Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey has addressed the recent James Bond rumours that suggest he could be stepping into the role. Jonathan is known for playing Anthony Bridgerton in the hit Netflix regency series, and notably took on the role of Fiyero in last year’s film adaptation of Wicked. Now, it’s been rumoured that the 37-year-old actor could be the identity behind the next James Bond.
Other rumoured names include Idris Elba, Theo James, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jonathan’s former Bridgerton co-star, Regé-Jean Page. Appearing on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday (June 17) morning, Jonathan addressed the long-running speculation with host Scott Mills.
“It’s an obvious question, but I’m going to be honest with you, it’s the one people are asking the most, so I’m going to ask it. Do you, or would you be, James Bond?” Scott asked on his Breakfast Show.
“Scott, how dare you!” Jonathan quipped, with Scott replying: “It’s not me, it’s the listeners and there are thousands.”
Jonathan then said: “I mean, that’s an amazingly flattering ask. I could imagine you as James Bond, Scott.”
Scott pressed on: “Well swerved, because that’s not true. But I mean, we know you could do it, but you’d want to do it?”
The actor went on to admit that it would be hard to turn down the role if he was asked, but confirmed that he doesn’t know what the future holds.
“I don’t… I am not sure… I don’t know. I really, honestly, I mean… it would be hard to say no, but I know that it’s going to be exciting whatever they do,” he shared.
“Thank you for answering that, because it was the most popular question. And I’ll be honest, I almost ran away from you a bit like you did with Steven Spielberg before I asked, but I’m glad I did. Thank you very much,” Scott concluded.
The anticipated fourth season of Bridgerton is slated for release next year. It will focus on Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) love story, with Yerin Ha joining the cast as romantic interest Sophie Baek.
Jonathan is set to return as Benedict’s older brother, Anthony, who notably married Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) at the end of season two.
Bridgerton is available to stream on Netflix