The very first black James Bond villain , Yaphet Kotto , has said the legendary secret agent role should only ever be portrayed by a white actor and 'political correctness be damned ' . Kotto , who starred as Dr Kananga in the 1973 Bond installment Live And Let Die , said the role was created by Ian Fleming for a white actor and should be portrayed on the big screen as such . His comments come in response to months of speculation that black British actor Idris Elba is in the running to be named as Daniel Craig 's successor . Scroll down for video . Yaphet Kotto ( pictured opposite Roger Moore in Live And Let Die ) said James Bond can not be portrayed by a black man . In an interview with Big Issue , Kotto said : 'Political correctness be damned , we have to stay with what is literally correct . ' He said : 'He was established as a white character , played by white actors . I do n't think it 's right for black actors or writers to do roles that whites have made historically white roles . ' Kotto argued that a black man could play 003 or 006 , but could not be 007 , and suggested new characters should be written for black heroes . Last month veteran Bond actor Roger Moore was widely condemned for his claim that Elba , 42 , could not be the next James Bond because he was not 'English English ' enough . Following the publication of the interview , Sir Roger faced strong criticism on Twitter over the statement . He made the 'English-English ' comments , even though former Bonds Sean Connery , Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were Scottish , Welsh and Irish . After being accused of 'racism ' , he claimed his comments were lost in translation during the interview with a French magazine . Elba is seen as the leading contender to play Bond once Daniel Craig holsters his Walther PPK for the last time . Hackney-born Idris Elba ( pictured ) has been tipped to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond actor . Current James Bond Daniel Craig ( pictured ) has said Elba is the only possible choice to replace him . He was born in Hackney , raised in East Ham , schooled in Canning Town , started work in Dagenham and he supports Arsenal . However , with speculation rampant he is being lined up to replace Craig , Elba himself has said he has ruled out taking the role . Today The Sun reported him as saying : 'It 's a rumour that 's really started to eat itself . If there was a chance of me getting Bond , it 's gone . ' He also responded to claims he was not 'English ' enough for the role , stating he was 'born and raised ' in England . Following Live and Let Die , Kotto went on to take central roles in several successful Hollywood films , including Alien and Midnight Run . Sean Connery , pictured , who was replaced as Bond by Roger Moore , played 007 with a Scottish accent . Timothy Dalton , left , who played James Bond during the 1980s following Moore , was born in Wales . While Pierce Brosnan , right , pictured with Desmond Llewelyn , left , was born in the Irish Republic .
The first black Bond villain , Yaphet Kotto , says secret agent must be white . He said the role was created for a white hero and should remain as such . Black Irish actor Idris Elba has been tipped to replace Daniel Craig as 007 . Kotto played villain Dr Kananga in the 1973 installment Live And Let Die .