Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page has dismissed rumours he is being lined up as the next James Bond.
Actors including James Norton, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Golding and Idris Elba are in the mix to replace Daniel Craig after No Time To Die, his fifth and final Bond film.
British-Zimbabwean actor Page’s performance in Netflix’s raunchy new romantic period drama, described as Gossip Girl meets Downton Abbey, has seen him touted as a successor.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he said: “I think the internet thinks a lot of things and that’s one of the more pleasant ones, so I’m pleased as far as that goes.
“But nah, I think there might be an element of cultural translation to be done here.
“If you’re a Brit and you do something of any kind of renown that people regard well, then people start saying the B word.”
He said such rumours are more of a “merit badge”, adding: “I don’t think it’s much more than that. I’m very glad to have the badge, I’m glad to be in such wonderful company of people who have the badge.”
In Bridgerton, Page plays the character of Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, who he has described as “tall, dark, broody and thoroughly broken”.
The series follows Daphne Bridgerton, played by Phoebe Dynevor, the eldest daughter of the powerful Bridgerton family, as she makes her debut on Regency London’s competitive marriage market.
It is the first series from Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes’s production company Shondaland, following her lucrative deal with the streaming giant.
It also stars Dame Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown, an anonymous and mysterious gossip writer.