Ex-James Bond George Lazenby Says Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is Tough Enough For 007

Aaron Taylor-Johnson gettin’ his license to kill it as James Bond from a former 007 … who tells us ATJ’s got the toughness to handle the secret agent life.

George Lazenby — who played Bond in 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” — gave Aaron his seal of approval … saying the 33-year-old can handle the stunts, and all the ladies who love a man in a tux.

Worth noting, Aaron’s already got a leading lady of his own — director/producer Sam Taylor-Johnson … but we get where George is goin’.

Lazenby adds he’s pretty sure Aaron doesn’t have the part yet … ’cause when he auditioned for the part back in the 1960s, he went through a bunch of different tests and auditions before he won the role.

James Bond has gone totally international now, according to George … who points out the character’s been played by people of different nationalities over the past 60 years, including a Scot, a Welshman, an Irishman, multiple Englishmen, and George himself, who is Australian.

Because of that variety of national origins, Lazenby says he’s fine with wherever the actor happens to hail from … as long as they do the character justice.

GL’s got some advice for Aaron too … telling the Golden Globe winner to be true to himself and reinvent the role to fit him — just like George says he did all those years ago.

Of course, George took over for iconic Bond actor Sean Connery in ‘OHMSS’ — and the role’s changed hands quite a few times since … going back to Connery before Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig — who left the franchise after his fifth turn as the famed 007 agent in back 2021.

Now, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s reportedly got an offer in front of him to step into the role, winning out over other actors like Idris Elba and Henry Cavill.