The upcoming Bond film No Time To Die will be Daniel Craig s final outing as 007 but his successor has not yet been announced.
Luther actor Elba, 48, is among the names linked to the role, along with Scottish Outlander actor Sam Heughan, James Norton (Grantchester) and Tom Hardy, who won a legion of fans in Peaky Blinders.
But Clooney told Heart DJ Mark Wright that Elba would be his pick to be the eighth actor to play the spy.
He said: He s elegant and I think he would make a great job of it. That s who I would ve cast absolutely but in general, no I don t think I should be. The closest thing I ve ever done to any kind of hero like that was Batman and we saw how that turned out.