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.