JAMES NORTON I'm too old to play Bond... it would be life-changing and I like my life right now

He may be revelling in his role as Harold II in BBC period drama King & Conqueror, but James Norton has ruled himself out of playing James Bond.

- BY MARC BAKER

The actor may leave viewers shaken and stirred, but he says: "I think I am too old. I turned 40 this summer."

And while the rumour mill is rife that he's being lined up as 007, he thinks casting directors will "go younger" for the next Bond.

He insists: "There is no conversation going on. It is as if someone has a bet on in Wolverhampton and it is nonsense and I have paps [paparazzi] outside my door. It is all speculation."

Even if he was offered Bond, he would have reservations about accepting it. He says: "It is a difficult decision as it will change your life," he says, adding that he likes the fact he isn't instantly recognisable.

"I can walk down to the pub. I like my life right now. I have no idea what it is like to be Leonardo DiCaprio.

"I imagine the apex is pretty big, but I like the fact I can leave my house and go down to the shop."

In King & Conqueror, the six-part series that started on BBC1 last weekend, he fights a bloody battle for the English throne against William The Conqueror (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), ending in the Battle of Hastings.

The project is the latest from James's own production company, Rabbit Track Pictures.

He says: "I am one of those people who thrive under pressure and the more you put on my plate the more efficient I am. It is kind of fun if you are proud of the piece and I am proud of King & Conqueror, as I produced it."