Henry Cavill claims he was close to being cast as James Bond over Daniel Craig

‘I probably wasn’t ready at the time and I think Daniel did an incredible job over the past movies,’ Cavill said

Henry Cavill has claimed that he was very “close” to being cast as James Bond instead of Daniel Craig.

During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 39-year-old actor spoke about his audition experience for Casino Royale and how it apparently came down to him and Craig.

“They told me I was close. They told me it was ultimately down to, and this is what I’ve been told, it was just down to me and Daniel, and I was the younger option,” Cavill said.

“They obviously went with Daniel and I think it was an amazing choice to go with Daniel,” he said. “I probably wasn’t ready at the time and I think Daniel did an incredible job over the past movies, so I’m happy they made that choice.

“It was a fun adventure at the time, and definitely gave me a boost to my career. That was the key element of it.”

Last year, James Bond fans bid farewell to Craig’s Bond after 15 years.

The actor signed on to play 007 in the 2006 film Casino Royale and played him four more times up until No Time to Die, which was released a year ago this month.

Earlier this month, Craig explained what prompted him to play James Bond.

(PA Media)

Speaking on No Time To Die’s official six-part podcast, the actor said he only accepted the role after ensuring he could do something different to what had come before with actors, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan.

“The deal was, I said to [producers] Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G Wilson] before I read the script – it’s so arrogant, it’s ridiculous – I just said I can’t do an impression of something that’s come before,” Craig said.

He continued: “I can’t recreate what you’ve done before. Brilliant though that is, I can’t do it. I can’t come in and try and be something that people expect.

“I can come in and try and reinvent it, because that to me is fascinating and interesting.”

It was announced over the weekend that Cavill is being replaced in Netflix’s fantasy series The Witcher by Liam Hemsworth, much to the dismay of many of the show’s fans.

Read The Independent’s Louis Chilton’s take on the news here.