James Norton says there's "nothing concrete" behind James Bond rumours

After the whirlwind that was Happy Valley season 3 gripping the nation when it aired earlier this year, the hit BBC series is now wrapping up airing in the US. Chatting about it with Variety, the question of whether Bond is now on the cards for the actor, of course, cropped up.

When asked whether he's tested for the Bond producers or had any preliminary discussions with them, Norton said: "No, no, no, none of that."

Norton explained: "It’s a really lovely piece of clickbait media in the UK, and anyone can write any story about it and it will get the most incredible sort of hype around it. No, no conversations.

"Basically nothing else to say other than I think they’re probably still working it all out. It’s a big challenge to know which direction to take that huge franchise in. But beyond that, it’s lots of fun and bemusing media coverage. There’s nothing concrete behind it."

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As for what Norton is planning on doing next, he's wrapping up his onstage role in A Little Life and says he has a "newfound respect for anyone involved in script development and script editing" after setting up Rabbit Track pictures three years ago with producing partner Kitty Kaletsky.

Norton is just one of the names in the current conversation around who will take over the reigns from Daniel Craig in the iconic film franchise. Other rumoured include Henry Golding (Snake Eyes), Paapa Essiedu (The Lazarus Project), Richard Madden (Citadel) and Rupert Friend, who has said he is "ready" for Bond if the opportunity should arise.

Friend also told Variety: "Very recently, last week [in mid-April], it started to come back into my consciousness that, let’s put it this way, maybe I’ve got the scars and the bruises now.

"From having literally been around the block or in the school of hard knocks, but also having navigated film sets and directors and difficult situations. You sort of realise you’re at a point where you can take things on that perhaps you couldn’t before."

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