'It is strange': Regé-Jean Page was surprised by the ferocity of James Bond speculation

Regé-Jean Page finds speculation that he could be the next James Bond "strange".

The 38-year-old star was hotly-tipped to succeed Daniel Craig as 007 following his breakthrough role as Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings in the first season of Netflix drama Bridgerton but confessed that he was taken aback somewhat by the intensity of the rumours.

Page told Esquire UK: "It is strange, it's not normal.

"How I navigate it is very much about what is useful, what serves me in my job, in being able to deliver what I need to deliver to an audience, and a lot of that is just grounding."

He added: "It does get quite loud on the inside, like it was very, very intense, that combination of conversation, and I think I worked quite consciously to be able to navigate that environment with some normalcy for myself."

At the height of the Bond buzz in 2021, Page suggested that he was flattered to be linked to the part of the iconic spy but feels that it is merely a "merit badge" for rising male British stars.

He told The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: "I think there might be an element of cultural translation to be done here.

"If you're a Brit, and you do something of any kind of renown that people regard well, then people start saying the 'B' word. It's like a merit badge. You get the 'B' word merit badge.

"I'm very, very glad to have the badge. I'm glad to be in such wonderful company of people who have the badge. But it's a badge."

Regé-Jean's latest movie role is in the romantic comedy You, Me and Tuscany alongside Halle Bailey and he has declared that the rom-com genre isn't "dead".

Quizzed on if he took the part to compensate for the lack of rom-coms being made in Hollywood at present, he told People magazine: "It might have been that. The idea that the rom-com is dead. Love definitely isn't dead. Love will save us. And I think that I'm happy to wave that flag tonight."

The Black Bag star revealed that he loved getting to shoot the movie in the Italian sun.

Page said: "We shot in Tuscany. It was Rome, five or six weeks in Tuscany. We were just out in the sunshine, driving through vineyards.

"I ran my hand through that field of wheat that Russell Crowe goes through at the beginning of Gladiator. Food was incredible.

"And I got to work with Halle Bailey every day. So we were just having a great time. We were having a great time making a movie about stepping into your best life."

He continued: "Every movie doesn't have to be who punches hardest. So I'm conscious about talking it out and finding peace with yourself and other people. And it was a joy to do that."