Sam Heughan says he would ' jump' at the chance to play James Bond

Scottish actor Sam Heughan says he would ‘jump’ at the chance to play 007 if he was ever offered the role.

Sam Heughan says he would 'jump' at the chance to play James Bond.

Speaking to the Glasgow Evening Times, Mr Heughan compared his new film SAS: Red Notice to the James Bond franchise, saying that his character is a similar type of “good psychopath” to Bond.

Mr Heughan, best known for his role in Outlander, plays special forces operator Tom Buckingham in the new film, available on Sky Cinema now, which is an adaption of a novel by former SOS soldier Andy McNab.

The plot follows the character as finds himself on a hijacked train in the middle of the Channel Tunnel.

Sam Heughan as Tom Buckingham in the film SAS: Red Notice.

All the passengers are held hostage and it’s up to Tom Buckingham to save the day.

Mr Heughan said the character fascinated him and compares the role to Bond saying that “it’s hard not to look at this movie and compare the two” as they are “kind of in the same world”.

He said: “I think when we think of psychopaths we instantly think of Hannibal, these evil people, these evil psychopaths, but Andy has obviously done a lot of work and had written about it and done research with Oxford University about it and there are many high-functioning psychopaths in the military, but also as doctors, surgeons, lawyers.

“Anything where there is a very stressful situation, where they need to remove emotion, that is where these people operate really well, so it was fascinating to look at it and see what that means.”

Mr Heughan suggested that James Bond could fit into the category of a “high-functioning psychopath” as someone who can control his emotions to such an extent.

The Scots actor has been tipped as a possible successor to Daniel Craig who has been in the 007 role since 2006.

When asked if he would ever take on the infamous role, following in the footsteps of beloved late Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery, he said: “I don’t know if there is a conversation being had, apart from in the media, but I think it’s an incredible franchise and a great character, so of course I would jump at it."

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