George Lazenby, who played 007 in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, has endorsed the current frontrunner Aaron Taylor-Johnson to take over as the next James Bond.

Speaking to TMZ, Lazenby said he believed Taylor-Johnson, “can handle the stunts, and all the ladies who love a man in a tux”.

The Australian actor added that he understood that Taylor-Johnson had not yet been formally offered the role, given that his own experience involved multiple tests and auditions. He continued by saying he would be happy to support the younger actor, provided Taylor-Johnson could “do the character justice”.

Last week, Taylor-Johnson was tipped in the Sun to be a shoo-in for the role, with Eon productions having put in a formal offer, ahead of a planned production start on the 26th Bond movie later this year.

But in an interview with GQ conducted before the Sun’s report, Taylor-Johnson appeared to rule himself out of contention, saying: “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like, whatever’s drawn out for me, I can fucking do better.”

He continued by saying that he “doesn’t necessarily want … doing one action movie after another” to be his “brand”.

Taylor-Johnson’s possible casting led to the hashtag #BoycottJamesBond trending on X as posters said they would no longer watch the franchise if a Jewish actor was cast in the lead role.

The actor, 33, told the Guardian in 2015 that he was pleased when someone told him he resembled a fashionable Hasidic Jew. “That was nice because I have really curly hair and also I’m Jewish,” he said.

Daniel Craig’s tenure as Bond came to an end after five films with 2021’s No Time to Die. Names rumoured to be in the cross-hairs to take over have included Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, James Norton, Regé-Jean Page and Idris Elba.