To listen to our exclusive interviews with James Purefoy, click on these links: You can see photos of James Purefoy in Rome, download James Purefoy wallpaper, send a James Purefoy e-card, as well as hear James' voice every time you receive an e-mail, by clicking these links: From Sean Connery to George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, James Bond remains as popular as ever – boys want to be him and girls just want to... Since Pierce's announcement earlier this year, the hunt for James Bond number six is now on, and although Pierce favours Colin Farrell as his replacement, Colin's response of "I would not like to do it... they should find someone else" hints that he's not too keen on the idea! Sean Connery has his money on Ewan Mcgregor (anyone see a connection here with past Bonds nominating their fellow countrymen for the part?) whilst Dougray Scott, Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman and Ioan Gruffudd are all potential candidates.  | | Pierce did a good job, but could James do better? |
However James Purefoy, although he was pipped to the post by Pierce when he screen tested for Goldeneye back in 1995, is a firm favourite to play 007 this time around. A view to a careerBorn in Taunton, James went to Sherborne School in Dorset and even worked as a porter at Yeovil District Hospital for a while. After traveling around Europe for a bit, he returned to college, taking drama as one of his A levels. Inspired, he then went onto study acting at the London Central School of Speech and Drama, where he was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford. Theatre-wise, James has starred in a whole host of productions from Death of a Salesman with Jude Law at the West Yorkshire Playhouse to Les Enfants du Paradis with Simon Callow, Joseph Fiennes and Rupert Graves for the RSC.  | | Lovin' the hair in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
Never one to be typecast, his TV credits include Mr Lawrence in the BBC's period drama, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Brian, a psychopathic rapist, in BBC ONE's Calling the Shots; Nathan, a sad stalker, in Granada's Metropolis and a part alongside Michael Elphick in... wait for it... Boon. Classic! The theatre and TV world is not enoughJames' film roles are equally as diverse. He played bisexual Irishman Brendan in Bedrooms and Hallways; alcoholic Tom Bertram in Mansfield Park and wannabee Bond actor Carl Phipps in Ben Elton's Maybe Baby – hmmmm, art reflecting life perhaps? More recently, James starred as the Black Prince in A Knight's Tale, opposite Heath Ledgerand co-starred with Milla Jovovich in the futuristic horror film Resident Evil. He also played George in the big budget film George and the Dragon with Val Kilmer and Patrick Swayze and starred as dashing heir Rawdon Crawley in Vanity Fair (some of which was filmed in Bath) with Reese Witherspoon and Jim Broadbent. You'll next be able to see James as Marc Anthony in a HBO/BBC drama called Rome which is scheduled to be aired in 2005. We're hoping, though, that it's only a matter of time before James is the spy who loves us with that all-important licence to thrill. James – you can shake and stir us anytime!
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