James Bond: Tom Hiddleston on rumours following The Night Manager: 'I just want to make it stop'

'It's odd because it's becoming overwhelming - not the thing of it, but the number of people per day who bring it up'

Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager (BBC)

Ever since The Night Manager hit the airwaves one Sunday evening on BBC One, Tom Hiddleston has been inundated with questions about James Bond.

Although not an immediate choice beforehand, since his role as John Pine - as well as a spectacular performance in High Rise - fans have been pushing for the Loki-actor to take over as 007.

However, as welcome as being told ‘You should be the next Bond’ is for Hiddleston, he’s actually a little fed up with being asked about playing the spy.

"I feel like, I want to just make it stop,” he told Sky News. “Because I have no power over it, but that's what being famous is. You have no power over other people's opinions.

"People have very strong opinions about Bond and why shouldn't they? But it's difficult to talk about because it's a completely unreal conversation in a way.

Hiddleston confirmed that he had not spoken to studio executives about the role: “It's just an idea in people's minds so it's quite hard to engage with because it hasn't come from me if that makes sense.

"It's odd because it's becoming overwhelming - not the thing of it, but the number of people per day who bring it up, it's actually becoming a weird thing to deal with.”

Although he’s the bookies favourite to take on the role, current Bond Daniel Craig hasn’t officially stepped down. When promoting Spectre, Craig said he’d rather ‘slash his wrists’ than play the spy again. However, those involved with the project have been sending mixed messages about whether he will return or not.

Others in contention to succeed Craig include Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Aidan Turner and Henry Cavil, but so far there has been no official word. Read about all the contenders here.