James Norton: Nobody does James Bond better than Daniel Craig

Norton is the bookies' favourite to replace Craig as 007
Licence to chill: James Norton says he would be as happy playing a Bond villain as landing the 007 role
Gentleman's Journal
Alistair Foster2 July 2018

He may be favourite to succeed Daniel Craig as 007, but James Norton says he would be just as happy being a Bond villain. The 32-year-old War & Peace star is the bookies’ favourite to land the role, and has described the speculation as “very flattering”.

He told Gentleman’s Journal: “I would love to play a Bond villain. I love Daniel Craig and I’d love him to do more films. He’s brought a whole other angle to the character — and long may that continue. But people love to speculate.

“Bond’s such an icon and means so much to so many, so there’s an inevitable amount of speculation. But that’s as much as it is — speculation. Very flattering, very humbling speculation.”

Norton says he used to amuse himself when growing up by making his friends watch him perform plays he had written.

Daniel Craig - In pictures

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He added: “I often think what that seven-year-old boy in Yorkshire would think of the speculation. Being mentioned alongside the likes of Tom Hardy.

“It’s nuts. Nonsense. Lovely, lovely nonsense. But say you want to be Bond just once and that becomes a headline. I don’t even know if I’d want to do it.”

Norton says he is not drawn by the money or fame: “Would I strive for the lifestyle side of it? Not really. I don’t want to sound overly worthy — everybody loves the glamour, and I’m not one of those actors who says, ‘I’m not going to the party or wear the beautiful clothes because I’m an actor.’

“Where’s the fun in being so principled that you can’t enjoy it? Acting comes first because first and foremost I do this job to expand my horizons.”

Cover star: James Norton fronts the magazine
Gentleman's Journal

Read the full interview in the September/October issue of Gentleman’s Journal, out today.