Don’t bet on Norton as 007

HE IS the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next James Bond.

But James Norton, pictured, has told punters to ‘keep their money in their pocket’, dismissing claims he is set for the coveted role as pure ‘speculation’.

Norton, 32, whose latest television drama sees him in a dinner jacket – doing little to dispel rumours he is being lined up to replace Daniel Craig – insists he has not been approached by producers.

Speaking about the opening scenes in his new BBC series McMafia, he tells Radio Times: ‘I did say to James Watkins, the director, are you just baiting me and stoking the rumour fire?

‘It’s really humbling and flattering, but to have my name next to the likes of Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender is just mad. If you’re thinking of putting a bet on me, keep your money in your pocket.’

TELEVISION heartthrob James Norton has been tipped to be the next James Bond — but could the War & Peace star be the wrong sex and colour?

For producer Barbara Broccoli, who is in charge of the highly lucrative spy series, has dropped a big hint that 007 could next be played by a black or female actor.

Barbara, 57, whose father Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli turned Ian Fleming’s espionage novels into the world’s biggest spy film franchise, was asked if we could expect to see a female Bond or a black 007.

‘These films tend to reflect the times so we always try to push the envelope a little bit,’ she replied. ‘Anything is possible.

‘Right now it’s Daniel Craig, and I’m very happy with Daniel Craig, but who knows what the future will bring?’

Barbara has already reinvented Bond once, from the tall, dark-haired smoothie most memorably portrayed by Sir Roger Moore, to Craig’s musclebound, blond assassin.

Craig, 49, declared in 2015 that he would rather ‘slash his wrists’ than play 007 again, but was persuaded last year — with the help of a reported £100 million pay cheque — to sign up for his fifth mission.

Broccoli’s close friend Sir Roger Moore is, sadly, no longer around to raise his objections to any radical changes to Fleming’s character.

Sir Roger, who died in May at the age of 89, told this newspaper in 2015: ‘I have heard people talk about how there should be a lady Bond or a gay Bond.

‘But they wouldn’t be Bond for the simple reason that wasn’t what Ian Fleming wrote.

‘It is not about being homophobic or, for that matter, racist — it is simply about being true to the character.’