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James Norton As James Bond: The Bookies’ Favorite, And Why Aidan Turner Is Out Of Contention

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:46 PST, Jul 20, 2016

James Norton has a high chance of becoming the next James Bond, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The 30-year-old actor, who is best known for his role on two BBC series, Happy Valley and War & Peace, is likely to be Daniel Craig’s successor.

James Norton, who turned 31 just three days ago, is now one of bookies Ladbrokes’ favorite candidates to play the iconic role in future James Bond movies, jumping from 20/1 to 4/7.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, a Ladbrokes spokesperson said they will have to put the brakes on their James Bond betting temporarily while the market settles.

“The gamble on James Norton has seemingly come out of nowhere, but money talks, and punters clearly think he’s worthy of being 007 favorite if nothing else.”

James Norton’s sudden jump in the odds may serve as an example of somebody having inside information about the future plans of James Bond creators. The list of future Bond candidates also includes Beasts of No Nation star Idris Elba, Max Max: Fury Road actor Tom Hardy, as well as Taylor Swift’s new boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston.

One factor that led to James Norton’s increased chances of carrying James Bond’s gun in future installments of the series based on Ian Fleming’s books about the 007 agent, was that the BBC has recently confirmed Poldark Season 3, which ruled out the candidacy of previous Bond favorite Aidan Turner.

James Norton is best known for his roles of Tommy Lee Royce on BBC’s Happy Valley and Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky in the BBC production of War & Peace, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel of the same name.

Tom Hiddleston, best known for his role of Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, has 4/1 odds of becoming James Bond, while Jamie Bell (Fantastic Four), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, Guardians of the Galaxy, Limitless) and Henry Cavill (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) are outside contenders at 16/1.

But there would be nothing surprising if James Norton or another of the above-mentioned actors became the next James Bond. It would be far more surprising if Helen Mirren, P Diddy or former Tory party leader William Hag became Bond, as they have 221 -1, 271-1 and 501 -1 odds, respectively, according to Australian online bookie Sportsbet.

Current James Bond Daniel Craig has appeared in the past four James Bond movies and has repeatedly voiced his plans to resign as the 007 agent. However, there hasn’t been an official announcement from Craig nor James Bond creators. However, Craig has made his intentions perfectly clear.

Apparently, Whitney Houston is what sets the sexual mood for James Norton before sex scenes, according to the Mirror. At least that’s the method used by War & Peace actress Lily James who gets her co-star sexually prepared for their love scenes.

Lily James plays the role of Natasha Rostova in the BBC production of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, and she frequently shares love scenes with her co-star James Norton, who plays Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

In his interview with the Mirror, James Norton revealed that he gets sexually aroused from listening to Whitney Houston’s hits.

“In between takes Lily loves listening to Whitney Houston so when you have these romantic moments she comes over and goes, ‘James, listen to Whitney’.”

And so it changes “the mood” for James Norton a little bit, as revealed by the actor himself. The War & Peace star added that he enjoys starring alongside Lily James, who is in a romantic relationship with former Doctor Who actor Matt Smith.

“It is not hard to play the part of someone falling in love with Lily James, obviously. Lily and I are mates.”

[Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Photo]

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