Slow Horses star Christopher Chung has said he would relish the chance to play a villain in a future James Bond film, while his co-star Jack Lowden continues to be heavily tipped for the lead role.
Chung, who plays Roddy Ho in the Apple TV+ spy thriller, told the Mirror that while the rumour linking him to the iconic British secret agent role is flattering, he is too anxious to take on the part himself.
Chung on Bond rumours
“I’ve heard that rumour! Let’s spread that around a little further, shall we?!” Chung said when asked about the 007 speculation.
But when asked whether he would seriously consider taking on the mantle of the suave spy with a “licence to kill”, the Australian actor shook his head doubtfully.
“Obviously, it’s an incredible, career-defining role. Yes. But it's also such a huge undertaking for any actor that ends up taking that part. I'm just way too anxious to do it. It’s a lot of pressure.”
Lowden tipped for Bond
While Chung may be an outsider, his Slow Horses co-star Jack Lowden has been heavily tipped to succeed Daniel Craig for some months.
Show director Adam Randall has backed the Scot, saying, “I think you’ve seen from six seasons that he’d be pretty perfect.”
Chung, however, has his sights set on a different role within the franchise. “I think I’d have a lot of fun in a peripheral role, maybe as a baddie. Yeah, a bit of a Rami Malek, you know? He was a fantastic villain in No Time To Die.”
Life on Slow Horses
The 38-year-old Melbourne native is currently filming season eight of Slow Horses, which follows a dysfunctional group of disgraced MI5 agents. He described the show as “a gift of a job” and said it has been “the last five years of my life”.
Chung, who plays arrogant computer genius Roddy Ho, said working with Gary Oldman – who plays the obnoxious, lazy and flatulent Jackson Lamb – is more fun off-camera than people might expect.
“You think that someone of that kind of caliber would be very insular and serious, but he's so open and he just treats us like one big family,” Chung said. “He’s the most fun to work with. He’s such a joker on set, it's actually hard to get any work done sometimes.”
Speaking at the press night for Don Black’s musical review From the Heart, where he was supporting his wife, West End star Francis Mayli McCann, Chung said he is keen to return to the stage. The pair met when they both starred in the 2014 musical Here Lies Love at London's Royal National Theatre.
“I'm dying to get back on stage at some point, because that's where I started. Nights like this remind me of that. Theatre’s where my wife and I met,” he said.
