Cillian Murphy has responded to rumours that he could be the next James Bond, saying that while he is “incredibly flattered” to be considered a viable successor to Daniel Craig, he thinks the role should go to a woman.
The Peaky Blinders star is among many names rumoured to play 007 after Craig’s final outing as the character in No Time to Die next year, but he recently received an extra endorsement from the great-niece of Bond creator Ian Fleming, who said she thought Murphy would be “an awesome, sexy, bad-ass” spy.
“It seems to be a way of generating business for bookies,” Murphy told GQ.
“So someone who happens to be in a TV show and wears a tux occasionally in a TV show…
“But having said all of that, it's incredibly flattering to be in that conversation. I think it should be a woman.”
Gillian Anderson, Lashana Lynch, Idris Elba, Richard Madden and Murphy’s Peaky Blinders co-star Tom Hardy are among the other actors on the Bond rumours list.
No Time to Die, which will see Craig play bond for the fifth and final time, will be released in UK cinemas on 3 April 2020.
