Ledger snubs Bond role

Heath Ledger has said that he does not to want to play James Bond.

10:05 27 April 2004

Heath Ledger has said that he does not to want to play James Bond.

The 25-year-old Australian had been one of the favourites to take over the role of the super-spy when Pierce Brosnan hangs up his Walter PPK.

Teenhollywood reports the actor, who is dating Naomi Watts, has told friends that he does not want the part.

"Heath is worried he will be typecast if he plays the suave spy," a friend of the star is quoted as saying.

While Brosnan looks set to play 007 for the 21st instalment of the Bond franchise - the actor, now 50, is widely tipped to make this his last outing.

But even a fifth film is not a sure thing, with Brosnan commenting: "It is nowhere near a done deal - but they know where to find me. I was prepared to do a fifth film and then walk away and we had started negotiations."

Ledger would not be the first Australian to play the role - following in the footsteps of George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) - but he would be the youngest actor to play the part. Lazenby was the previous youngest at 30.

Other actors tipped to take on the role include Orlando Bloom,27, Jude Law, 32, Christian Bale, 30, and Ewan McGregor, 33.

But leading the pack is X-Men star Hugh Jackman, 35, after Brosnan hinted the next Bond would be Australian.