The New James Bond: Lowe. Rob Lowe?

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/19/2001 at 11:56 AM EDT

It's a good thing that producers of the James Bond movie franchise recently reiterated their commitment to keep Pierce Brosnan, 49, in the title role, because "The West Wing" star Rob Lowe would love to get behind the wheel of 007's Aston Martin. Furthermore, he has a public mandate to take his martinis shaken, not stirred, Bond-style. In a readers' poll conducted by the New York Post, Lowe, 37, emerged as the odds-on favorite to play Bond. On Wednesday's edition of TV's "Access Hollywood," the actor responded to the results of the survey, although he seemed surprised by the question. "What would I do about the English accent?" he asked. Lowe then proceeded to deliver his own Bond imitation ("Bond, James Bond") and said, "It's just that easy, isn't it?" The bottom line: Lowe says he would welcome the opportunity to play the British superspy on the big screen. "Every kid grows up wanting to be James Bond," he said. "I haven't checked my answering machine today -- maybe they've called."