Hugh Jackman Says He’d ‘Seriously Consider’ Playing James Bond

Hugh Jackman could be James Bond. In fact, he was once approached about the role years ago, he told Australian TV show The Project.

“At the time I was just about to do X-Men 2 and I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t think it’s the right time,'” he said. And if he was asked to play the role again? “I’d seriously consider it.”

The news comes amid a controversy surrounding the possibility of The Wire‘s Idris Elba playing the next Bond. Anthony Horowitz, the author commissioned by Ian Fleming’s estate to write the next James Bond novel, said he didn’t think Elba was right for the part, saying he was “too street” for Bond. When fans became outraged, Horowitz apologized, taking to Twitter to say he was “mortified to have caused offence.”

So the Jackman rumors do arrive at an odd time, and it’s unclear if he’d even have the time if asked again. The Australian actor, who has played X-Men’s Wolverine six times, has an untitled Wolverine sequel set to premiere in 2017, as he teased in an Instagram post earlier in 2015.

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