The actor is still grappling with the attention he received following his breakout role on “Bridgerton.”

Regé-Jean Page opens up about ‘intense’ Bond speculation: ‘It’s not normal’

The actor is still grappling with the attention he received following his breakout role on "Bridgerton."

By Leigh Blickley

April 1, 2026 1:23 p.m. ET

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Rege-Jean Page in March 2026. Credit:

Cindy Ord/Getty

Regé-Jean Page is shaken, not stirred by speculation that he's the next James Bond.

In a new interview with Esquire UK, the *You, Me & Tuscany* star admitted that the incessant rumors about who'll inherit the Bond mantle from Daniel Craig are intense and "a little unusual."

"It is strange, it's not normal," he said, mulling over the post-*Bridgerton* period when his popularity soared. "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."

Page, 38, said he understands that it's important to play into the noise and casting reports at times, but it's a bit overwhelming.

"It does get quite loud on the inside," he told the magazine, "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."

Since his breakout performance as Simon, the Duke of Hastings, on season 1 of *Bridgerton*, Page has received consistent Bond queries. At the height of the buzz, he said that although he's honored to be considered a candidate, he just sees it as a "merit badge" for up-and-coming British actors.

Rege-Jean Page in 'Bridgerton'.

Liam Daniel/Netflix

"I think there might be an element of cultural translation to be done here," Page told Jimmy Fallon on* **The Tonight Show** *in 2021. "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," he added at the time. "I'm glad to be in such wonderful company of people who have the badge. But it's a badge."

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Craig's 15-year, five-movie tenure as Bond ended with 2021's *No Time to Die*. Frontrunners for the role now include Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harris Dickinson, and Page's *Bridgerton* co-star Jonathan Bailey.

"That's an amazingly flattering ask," Bailey responded when BBC Radio 2 tossed out the Bond question in 2025. "It would be hard to say no, but I know that it's going to be exciting whatever they do."

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As the scuttlebutt carries on, Euronews shared a cheeky casting "confirmation" on April Fool's Day 2026: Jessie Buckley is the new 007! (That's right: a female Bond!)

The site joked that Tom Hiddleston would play the franchise’s first Bond boy and Gillian Anderson would be the new M in the Amazon film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by *Peaky Blinders *creator Steven Knight — the last two of whom are genuinely attached to the 26th Bond movie.

"For those of you who are currently seething, check this article's publication date and consider seeking some professional help, as the Bond franchise should be so lucky as to have a casting roster this impressive. Happy April Fools," Euronews added.

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Source: “EW James”