Fresh from his win at this week’s National Television Awards, Richard Madden could soon have even more to celebrate, according to reports.
The actor, who won the Best Drama Performance for his portrayal of David Budd in ‘Bodyguard’, is a reportedly now a serious contender to play James Bond once Daniel Craig hangs up his tux.
According to the Daily Mail, a producer on the hit BBC drama let slip that the 32-year-old is in contention to play 007, which has reportedly put the chances of a second series of ‘Bodyguard’ in doubt.
“We don’t know if Richard will do series two,” the unnamed producer reportedly told the Mail.
“It depends what happens with James Bond, we don’t know yet,” he added.
HuffPost has contacted Richard Madden’s reps for comment.
Richard has made no secret of the fact that he’s a huge Bond fan - he even starred in a James Bond-inspired photoshoot for GQ magazine in November last year.
However, when the men’s magazine asked him about the rumours he was in discussion to play the spy, he said he was “flattered” but played down the whispers.
“Everyone just loves the rumour mill on that topic,” he said. “I’m just the current one. There’ll be a different one next week.”
“I’m more than flattered to be mentioned, for people to consider putting me in that role. I’m very flattered and thankful. It’s a really brilliant thing to be in.”
After admitting he’s seen all the Bond movies and read all of the books, he added: “I don’t want to curse anything by saying anything. I think that’s the curse of that. If you talk about it, you’ll curse it.”
And as for ‘Bodyguard’, there’s still no guarantee of a second episode, according to the show’s creator, Jed Mercurio.
Speaking last year, he said: “It’s probably fair to say we would probably approach any thoughts of a second series with the idea that it would create an opportunity for a third or fourth.”
He added: “To adopt a sporting phrase, we kind of decided to leave everything on the field for series one.
“If the ratings hadn’t been quite so high, then possibly everybody involved including the BBC would have said, ‘Well that was a nice little series but we’re just going to leave it at that and there won’t be any more’. So you are a hostage to fortune in that sense.
“And we do feel very privileged and fortunate that there’s been such a response that it gives us that opportunity to at least think about doing more.”