He was earmarked by former 007 Pierce Brosnan.

preview for Why Every James Bond Actor Quit

Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy has said that he’s a “bit old” to play James Bond in the next movie.

Earlier this week, former 007 actor Pierce Brosnan earmarked Murphy as his personal choice for the role, telling the BBC: “Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond.”

However, it seems that Murphy doesn’t share that view. Speaking to Deadline, the Oscar nominee said: “I think I’m a bit old for that.”

cillian murphy stands in front of a bafta and ee branded background at the bafta film awards
Kate Green/BAFTA//Getty Images

Brosnan played Bond in three movies – Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002) – and immediately preceded the most recent Bond, Daniel Craig.

Franchise producer Barbara Broccoli recently confirmed that work on the next instalment of the franchise hasn’t exactly made a lot of headway.

Speaking to Deadline about the sequel to 2021’s No Time To Die, which was Craig’s last movie as Bond, Broccoli admitted that “there’s nothing I can tell you about the next Bond film… There’s nothing. Nothing is happening yet.”

pierce brosnan
Gisela Schober//Getty Images

Broccoli previously urged Bond fans to be patient as they look to reinvent the series following Craig’s exit.

“It’s gonna take a while for us to get – you know, it’s a whole new reinvention,” she told Variety. “So it’ll take some time.”

Murphy – who is nominated for an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer – isn’t the only actor to have his name thrown into the ring to play the iconic spy.

Spectre‘s Andrew Scott previously said that he’d like to see his All of Us Strangers co-star Paul Mescal play Bond, and No Time to Die‘s Ana de Armas has also said she thinks Mescal would be a great choice.

daniel craig and ana de armas in no time to die
Universal

Skins actor Jack O’Connell has also addressed rumours surrounding him being the next secret agent, while Barbie‘s Greta Gerwig recently suggested that Kingsley Ben-Adir should become the next Bond.

Others linked with the role since Craig’s exit have included Richard Armitage, Jamie Dornan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lucien Laviscount.

However, Idris Elba, who has been rumoured to play Bond several times in recent years, said he felt the opportunity was “beyond me at this junction” and “not a goal for my career”.