Obsession and Castlevania actor Richard Armitage has responded to the latest rumours he's in the running to play the new James Bond.
Armitage was on The One Show this week as he's written his own thriller novel/audiobook called Geneva, that's already being optioned for a TV series.
When talking about the plot, he mentioned a real-life skiing accident that was meant to be a Live and Let Die moment that went wrong, and made it into the book. That was when Alex Jones brought up the latest speculation.
Related: How to buy Richard Armitage's debut psychological thriller novel
"We're not interested in chat-chat," she said ironically. "Have you sat down properly with Barbara Broccoli?"
"Never," Armitage replied. "Geriatric Bond. No. I guess there's a rumour every week, it's very, very nice but I'd be more likely to be a Bond villain at this point in my life. I'll take that."
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While Jermaine Jenas agreed that the actor would make a good Bond baddie, Jones said: "I think you're wrong, I think you could be it."
If Armitage was cast as James Bond, he'd be the first openly gay actor to do so. Earlier this year, he spoke about his sexuality publicly for the first time, revealing that he's been out to his close friends and family for decades.
Related: Richard Armitage was on the shortlist to play Batman before Ben Affleck landed the part
"[Coming out] happened when I was 19 – to anybody who mattered," he said. "I was always waiting for that question to punch me in the face, and it never did. I thought: 'Are people being polite, or is it that they don't want to know?'
"I don't know that I ever wanted to put myself in front of the work I was doing, anything about my family or personal life. I just thought: 'Let the work speak for itself.'"
The One Show airs weekdays on BBC One.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
