James Norton has said that playing James Bond would have been a “mixed bag”, as he offered words of support to whichever “young whippersnapper” is cast as the secret agent.
Long before Daniel Craig hung up his gun as 007 in 2021, the rumour mill has been in near-constant overdrive over who will play the legendary secret agent next.
One name to come up time and time again over the years is that of Happy Valley star Norton, who at one point last year was the bookies’ favourite to star in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming spy drama.
But with casting now underway – and the team seeking a younger actor to play Bond – Norton, 40, has now spoken about the acceptance that comes with effectively ageing out of the role.
In a new interview withVulture, Norton joked that now he was no longer being asked “‘so… James Bond?’” in “nearly every interview”, part of him felt: “Wow, I’m getting old”.
“Part of me is relieved because when I really spent time thinking about it, it would always have been a mixed bag,” he said. “It’s an honour and it’s iconic and it’s a big cost.”
Casting for the next James Bond film, which is the first to be made under AmazonMGM Studios, began in May.
Speaking about the process, casting director Nina Gold said at the time that the team were looking for an actor who “oozes sex appeal” and is young enough to play Bond in at least three more movies.
Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Damson Idris, Harris Dickinson, Tom Holland and Louis Partridge are among the bookies’ favourites to take on the role.
Norton, who is currently starring in Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, then offered some words of support to whoever is cast as Bond in the end.
“Good luck to whoever young whippersnapper takes the role,” he said, jokingly adding: “I’ll be sitting there with my pipe and my book and my slippers.”
His words come days after Turner, who at 36 is not much younger than Norton but is considered by many to be the race’s frontrunner, spoke out about the speculation surrounding him as the next Bond.
“I know as much as you do. Really, I know as much as you do,” he told an interviewer from The Hollywood Reporter. ”It is such a weird thing of something happening and nothing happening at all. I genuinely know nothing. I just find it quite amusing.”