'Outlander' Star Sam Heughan Addresses James Bond 007 Rumors

Outlander star Sam Heughan has addressed rumors that he may be the next James Bond, saying that the whispers of him being 007 are just that, for now. During an interview with Esquire UK, Heughan was asked about his interest in the role and he replied, "I think any actor would never say they're not interested. Of course, you'd be interested."

I mean, it is all [rumors], and sometimes you think, should I, should we even talk about it? Because you don't want to jinx it. I'm sure the people, whoever runs [Bond] – you know, Barbara Broccoli and Eon and all that – they must be sick of it; people sort of throwing their hat into the ring. But yeah, he's a great character and would [certainly be] a fascinating character study and place to kick off." Heughan then compared the Bond films to his new movie, SAS: Red Notice, an action flick based on a novel of the same name by Andy McNad. "I think in SAS we have our own authentic note based on real-life scenarios, we have our authentic character, so I'd love to explore this one more."

Heughan also commented on the psychological nature of action heroes, specifically regarding whether or not they could be seen as "psychopaths," and he had a very thought-provoking response. "Somebody asked me earlier, 'Is James Bond a psychopath?' There are a lot of high functioning, 'good' psychopaths, as we call them, in the military, but also lawyers, doctors, surgeons – people that have to be in these high-stress situations that need to be logical, and not allow their emotions to take them over," he explained.

Heughan went on to suggest, "It might be a learned [behavior], or it might be something they've been born with, but in a stressful situation they can turn down their empathy, they can turn up their logical thinking, or whatever it is. If they need to be charming, like maybe James Bond, you know, he could be more charming. It's very much about them being able to just manipulate their emotions and turn them on and turn them off."

Finally, he added, "That's what Andy did: he was doing these studies with Oxford University and they had a heart rate monitor on him and checking all of his biometrics. They were showing him a lot of very graphic images and videos, and they saw his heart rate go up, and then just flatline. There's almost like something in his brain just switches off and he can just be totally fine."

While there is no official word yet on who will be the next Bond, fans can catch current series star Daniel Craig in his last outing as the action hero when No Time to Die opens in theaters on Oct. 8.