Two Bonds compete for Jessie’s eyes only
Kerry star Jessie Buckley is dating Bond potential James Norton – and Tom Hardy is her work mate
ACTRESS Jessica Buckley who is dating potential new Bond James Norton is to star alongside another actor who was touted as a possible 007, Tom Hardy, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Killarney actress will certainly have a licence to be thrilled with Grantchester and Happy Valley star Norton as her boyfriend and Legend star Tom Hardy as her on-screen leading man.
Jessie, 26, has been dating Norton, 30, since they met on the set of BBC drama War And Peace but they just recently went public with their relationship.
And now the MoS can confirm that she will be starring alongside Hardy
James said: ‘She already puts me on a pedestal’
in the Ridley Scott-produced Taboo – an eight-part TV miniseries drama set in 1800s London, and follows the return of the presumed-dead Hardy from a life-changing trip to the dark continent, Africa.
Hardy’s character, James Keziah Delaney, may even have Irish connections himself. On his return to Britain he hopes to inherit his father’s shipping empire, but will apparently find his family’s legacy to be something of a poisoned chalice.
It is not clear what part the stunning Ms Buckley will be playing, but she has recently been enjoying her role as up-and-coming actress – and girlfriend of the potential next Bond.
Jessie and James this week turned up at an event together in preBrexit No. 10 Downing street, where they enjoyed a hilarious tête-à-tête with presenter Piers Morgan – which he relates in his column for today’s TV Week magazine.
When Piers spotted James and Jessie at the event he began to tease Norton about the possible role.
Saying he would be a great 007, he warned him of an unknown curse of being Bond, revealed to him by a former incumbent.
‘Though I have to warn you I recently met George Lazenby [who played Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service] and he told me it ruined his sex life.
‘Because women put him on such a high pedestal, he never got laid,’ Morgan continues.
But Norton, it seems, has eyes for one lady only and introduced his girlfriend into the conversation.
‘Ha ha. Well, fortunately, she already puts me on a high pedestal,’ he said.
Norton’s leading lady Jessie then rescued her boyfriend from Piers’ jibes – with her tongue firmly in her cheek – saying: ‘Actually, Piers, you’d make a good James Bond yourself.’
Rada-trained Jessica has being enjoying an impressive rise on the acting scene.
And her latest role opposite Hollywood heavyweight Tom Hardy in Taboo will certainly propel her to superstardom.
She recently starred as Princess Marya in BBC’s hit adaptation of Tolstoy’s War And Peace, which is where she met Norton who played the role of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
The couple only went public with their relationship in March of this year. Since then they have been spotted at a number of high-profile events. In April they cemented their status as a rising star couple with a loved-up display at the Olivier Awards for theatre in London. Making a low-key arrival at the event, the couple sat side-by-side during the ceremony and could be seen exchanging loving glances as they smiled and joked throughout the evening’s proceedings.
Jessie is the eldest of five children who grew up in Kerry. She went to the Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles where her mother Marina Cassidy works as a vocal coach. In 2008, Jessie won an Association of Irish Musical Societies award for her role in the Killarney Musical Society production of Carousel before moving to London for work with the Garrick Theatre.