Saffron Hocking won’t name a successor to James Bond when pressed about who should play 007. The 31-year-old star of Fuze says she doesn’t know whether Aaron Taylor-Johnson or Theo James is in contention, noting that both would be “different – in their acting styles and as people,” but would make for compelling Bonds. Fuze premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, and Hocking also stars in Hedda, an adaptation of Hedda Gabler, which the production notes indicate will be released later this year.

Fuze was shot largely in London, where Hocking plays a bomb disposal expert. She shared most of her scenes with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who she describes as “a dream” and who did all his own stunts. “They’d got a stunt double for me,” Hocking recalled, “but when I saw Aaron I was, like, well now I want to do my own stunts!” She ended up performing one stunt that involved falling backwards. Three ex-Royal Marines—Nick Orr, Freddie Kemp and Kay Howells—trained the actors in bomb disposal, teaching them to build “mitigation walls” with sand and other techniques. “You have to call these guys if you need help,” she said, adding that she could reach out for guidance but wouldn’t claim she could dispose of a bomb herself.

Hocking described Hedda as a different on-set experience. Hedda Gabler was filmed at Flintham Hall, a Grade-I listed stately home in Nottinghamshire, and the cast spent downtime playing Uno in a makeshift card room the production team nicknamed “the casino.” On Instagram, Hocking lists herself as an “undefeated Uno champion,” a claim she jokes about but admits is part of the film’s light work atmosphere. She is best known for portraying Lauryn in Netflix’s Top Boy, for which she earned a Bafta nomination in 2023. Hedda and Fuze mark her first major film roles, and she says she feels she is “on the edge of something big,” though she stresses she is not scared—she’s excited.

Hocking grew up in Greenwich, South London, as an only child with parents who worked outside the acting industry. Her mother is from the Anambra region of Nigeria and her father hails from Penzance in Cornwall. She visited both places growing up but spent more time in Cornwall because it was easier to reach. Her mother—a “strong Nigerian woman” who is constantly performing—imbued a lively home life, and her father wrote poems in his spare time. Hocking remembers Wimbledon invites in which her mother mingled with attendees, chatting with Tim Henman and others, an experience she playfully nicknamed “Wimble-mum.”

Hocking attended Blackheath High, an independent girls’ school, where she recalls the banter and the sense of being a bit “ferocious” in a lively, all-girls environment. She began weekend acting classes as a teenager and, at 18, earned a place at the academy of Live & Recorded Arts (ALRA) in London. The school’s notable alumni include Hannah Waddingham and Denise Gough. On her first day at ALRA, she was the only non-white person in her year, a realization she says later helped shape her perspective on the industry’s diversity. After leaving ALRA early when an agent spotted her, she landed a part in a Globe Theatre production of Pitcairn, where she shared the stage with Sir Ian McKellen in a two-hander that left a lasting impression.

Hocking’s first major screen breakthrough came after a Star Wars film audition in which she recalls overacting because she focused on theatre training rather than screen acting. The lead role ultimately went to Daisy Ridley, who would become a close friend. She then took on smaller roles, including an appearance on Doctors and a part in the BBC comedy White Gold, before joining the Star Wars live-action game and later appearing in Moon Knight. Her big break arrived when she was cast in Top Boy in 2019 after meeting a casting director at the gym; Des Hamilton, who also worked on Fuze and Hedda, became her champion and continued to advocate for her in Hollywood.

Top Boy’s renewed popularity, boosted by Drake’s involvement as an executive producer, led to two additional seasons and a Bafta nomination for Hocking in 2023. She credits her agency, Insight Management, for helping navigate the transition to the United States, where she joined Untitled Entertainment, whose client roster includes Dakota Johnson and Emma Watson. Looking ahead, Hocking says she would love to explore horror, preferably without ghosts, and would number Denzel Washington or Jack Nicholson among dream co-stars. As for Bond, she remains cautiously optimistic and says the question is best left to the decision-makers, noting that both Taylor-Johnson and James would offer very different but equally intriguing takes on the iconic spy. Hedda is available on Prime Video on October 29.