Outlander star Sam Heughan has spoken about his experience auditioning for the role of James Bond, after a RadioTimes.com poll published last year named him as the top choice to be Daniel Craig’s replacement.

Some fans may be surprised to know that the actor has already auditioned to be the iconic spy, as one of the potential 007s under consideration prior to Craig’s official casting in October 2005.

Speaking to Radio Times as he prepares for his latest movie, SAS: Red Notice to drop on Sky Cinema, Heughan recalls the “surreal” process of trying out for Bond.

“I met [producer] Barbara Broccoli and [Casino Royale director] Martin Campbell,” he says. “I did a scene and they had the gun from The Man with the Golden Gun on the table and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is incredible’. It was surreal. He’s a character we’ve all grown up with.”

Since then, Craig has had a stellar run in the role, which has seen some of the most successful films in the franchise to date. But his tenure is coming to an end with this September’s No Time To Die.

Don’t expect any official word on his successor until that much-anticipated blockbuster has had its time in the spotlight, but Heughan goes on to say that he would be more than willing to try to bag the role once again.

“I don’t think any actor would ever say no,” he says. “If I was asked to audition for it, I would be delighted.”

SAS: Red Notice has given Heughan the opportunity to practice the action sequences he would be expected to perform if he were to be cast, and he acknowledges some similarities between the project and a Bond mission.

He continues: “You have to draw parallels because it’s a similar world. I feel like our movie is a bit of Bond and a bit of Bourne.”

However, fans of Amazon Prime Video’s period drama Outlander don’t need to worry about Heughan jumping ship any time soon, as he makes clear that he remains committed to the sweeping saga based on Diana Gabaldon’s novels.

“As long as people keep wanting to watch us, then we’ll keep making them,” he says.