Said Taghmaoui Cast as Villain of Next Bond Movie, Not Sure if He’s Still Playing the Role

French-born Moroccan actor Saïd Taghmaoui is probably most famous for playing Sameer in last year's Wonder Woman, but he might make an even bigger leap into stardom thanks to being cast as the villain in the next Bond movie. The only potential roadblock to him actually appearing in the film, however, is that the director that cast him has been fired from the project.

In an interview with Abu Dhabi's newspaper The National—reported on by Variety—Taghmaoui seemed very pragmatic about the whole thing, understanding that a new director may move in a different direction with the character...

“I’m supposed to do the next James Bond, playing the lead bad guy. I was cast by Danny Boyle, and just now he left the project, so of course there’s some uncertainty….

“We don’t know who the director will be, and the producers don’t know if they’re going to go Russian or Middle East with the baddie right now,” Taghmaoui added. “I literally just received a message saying: ‘If they go Middle East, it’s you. If they go Russian, it’s someone else.’ It’s the story of my life. Always on that line between something that could change my life and something that disappears.”

The big rumor coming out of Boyle's firing was that it centered around his decision to change the villain from Russian to Middle Eastern, so unfortunately it seems that Taghmaoui may be SOL. Hopefully it'll work out in his favor, but these Bond movie producers are awfully fickle and everything seems subject to change at any moment. We'll keep you posted with the latest info as it comes in.