Max Irons: 'I look too normal to be Bond'

The Little Drummer Girl star Max Irons has said he doesn’t think he would be believable as suave assassin James Bond because he looks too average.

Actor Max, who appears in the new BBC drama adaptation of John le Carre’s novel, was a guest on ITV’s Lorraine where he was asked whether he thought he’d be considered as the next James Bond following his performance.

But Max laughed off the suggestion and seemed to criticise some of the other names who’ve been touted as the new 007, too.

He said: “I think as a nation our requirements for James Bond are a little too low. I think we need to raise them.

“I’m not pointing at anyone in particular but Bond is an assassin, we need to go for someone who looks capable of that. Maybe not me!”

Daniel Craig has confirmed that he won’t be back as Bond, and rumoured replacements so far have included Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, and Bodyguard star Richard Madden.

Asked how he thought The Little Drummer Girl would be compared to Bodyguard, Max answered diplomatically: “I haven’t seen Bodyguard but I hear it’s fantastic.”

Red Riding Hood actor Max also admitted he could have another problem with playing an assassin, having gone through some tough weapons training for his current BBC role.

He said: “Weapons training was an odd one – I got put into a room with a man three times as big as me with an M4 machine gun and I just started sweating immediately.”

The Little Drummer Girl continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.

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