Outlander's Sam Heughan Auditioned to Be James Bond

From Town & Country

For months, rumors have been swirling that Outlander's Sam Heughan is in line to play the next James Bond, and this week, he threw a little fuel on the fire by admitting that he has auditioned for the role.

"I actually have auditioned for James Bond," he said in a new video interview with Esquire (above) to promote his film, Bloodshot.

"Back when they were rebooting, Bond 21, when Daniel Craig came on board, they were talking about making him younger. I don't know what happened, but very recently, I became the bookie's favorite to play Bond, which is kind of random and very strange. Yeah, I mean, we want a Scottish James Bond, don't we?" (Here, Heughan is of course referencing Sean Connery—a Scot, and the first actor to portray the character onscreen.)

But he wouldn't confirm if he's currently in the running for the role, simply signing off: "So uh, let's find out [and] see who does become Bond."

This isn't the first time Heughan has spoken out about the rumors that he could play 007. In 2019, when asked specifically if he'd like to play the role, Heughan said, "I think any actor who says they wouldn't would be lying." He also referenced wanting to see a Scot play Bond again.

"I think Fleming had great connections in Scotland and I believe James Bond was supposed to have been brought up in Scotland, so it would be fantastic to see a Bond." But even then, he wouldn't confirm if he was in the running for the role. "I know I've got competition out there," he said, "so we'll see what happens."

Either way, Heughan certainly isn't playing Bond in the next film. No Time to Die, which stars Daniel Craig as the iconic agent, was slated to premiere in April, but it has since been postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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