David Tennant has revealed he was in the running for the role of James Bond alongside Daniel Craig.
The last five 007 films have starred Craig in the iconic role, with his first appearance in Casino Royale (2006) and his last in No Time to Die (2021).
Tennant, appearing on the Acting For Others podcast, said he only recently found out that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson were at one stage considering him to play the famous secret service spy.
He recalled: “I never believed I had, until I worked with a director recently who had worked with the Broccolis, who said ‘Yeah, you were on the list that time’.
“I was like ‘What time? What are you talking about?’ He went ‘Yeah, the last time’.
“I suppose it must have been Daniel Craig; before that I would have been a child.”
“I think it was quite a long list and I don’t think I was ever very near the top of it. But apparently so,” the 51-year-old Scottish actor added.
He reflected on what his life would have been like if he had the opportunity to play Bond: “I think it’s probably a bit of a game-changer, that level of celebrity.”
Tennant is most well-known for his time in the Tardis, when he played the 10th Time Lord in the series Doctor Who from 2005 until his last episode on New Year’s Day in 2010.
The actor was cast into the spotlight after joining the famous British sci-fi series, “It was a different scale to anything I’d done before in terms of just the general public being aware of you.
“You can sort of be known in the industry and there’s a whole thing where you’re suddenly in people’s living rooms and they have a kind of ownership of you, in a way,” Tennant added.
“And it’s a multifaceted experience, and lots of it is very nice, but there are parts of it where you just can’t really anticipate what that feels like, I think.”
Tennant is set to return to Doctor Who next year, alongside actress Catherine Tate, who played the Doctor’s companion Donna Noble, to coincide with the series’ 60th anniversary celebrations.
Bond fans have been long speculating over who will take over the role following Craig’s last performance in No Time Die, from Rege-Jean Page, Henry Cavill and James Norton among the favourites.
