Richard Madden Would Be Willing To Play A Female 007's 'Bond Boy'

It's extremely close but Richard Madden is, right now, still ahead of Tom Hiddleston in the betting over who's going to get the keys to James Bond's DB5 once Daniel Craig's moved on. However, Madden himself says he'd be up for playing a female Bond's love interest if he didn't end up in the main role.

"If it was a good part," he went on. "If it was an interesting part, a Bond Boy would be an interesting dynamic. Why not?"

He's still a lot more likely to end up being 007 himself rather than getting himself into scrapes which Bond then has to free him from, or suddenly coming out with a narratively convenient bit of knowledge which helps Bond work out that she needs to go to Tahiti to do some snooping, but it's an interesting thought.

Madden also reflected on how he and his actor mates have to maintain a punishing schedule of exercise and a heavily restricted diet to stay in the kind of condition which certain roles demand, and how morally queasy the whole thing makes them.

"I find myself with actor friends – after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes – looking at each other going: ‘We’re just feeding this same shit that we’re against.'"

Madden adds that he's been squeezed into costumes that feel more like corsets and had the most minuscule rolls of excess fat pinched before being told to get back in the gym, which isn't really on is it? No, it's not.

This story originally appeared on Esquire.co.uk. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.