Memory of a Killer star denies possibility of being an American James Bond: 'It has to be an Englishman'

Five years have passed since 007 drank his last 'shaken-not-stirred' martini on-screen in No Time to Die, but as rumours swirl about who could step into Daniel Craig’s shoes to be the next James Bond, one actor has shut down suggestions that the iconic spy could be anything other than a British actor.

Patrick Dempsey is starring as an assassin not too dissimilar to Bond in Memory of a Killer. Fancy cars, sleek suits and a secret cellar to conceal an armoury of weapons, in another life Dempsey as Angelo could be James Bond. But is this his unofficial audition for the role?

"Oh, I don't think you could be an American and be James Bond - how would you do it?” he tells RadioTimes, "It would be John Ben, I like my non-alcoholic martini stirred not shaken, I guess, would be the logline, I don't know.

"I think it will be interesting to see who becomes the next James Bond. He's such an iconic figure, it has to be an Englishman or Scottish, or Irish."

Though the actor might not be officially 007, his latest role as a skilled hitman delicately balancing a double life as a family man by day, contract killer by night, is an action-packed one nonetheless with impressive stunts and car chase sequences.

"I love the nonstop action because I love the physicality of it in the choreography, the physical training of working with this, I love that," he said, "That came to me really easily, although at my age, the recovery period was a little bit harder.

"I'm a father - my children are older now, so I enjoyed that part of it as well. So, it was all these wonderful little variations and these different little silos that you could play and the story is really about how that comes crumbling down."

In Memory of a Killer, Angelo has to come to terms with his oncoming symptoms of Alzheimer's, similar to how his brother Michael’s condition began. The lapses in his memory start small, but start to threaten this meticulously separation he has forged between his two very different lives.

"It was the challenge of a man who has two distinctly different worlds and how they're starting to collide," Dempsey continues, "and then with the early onset dementia or Alzheimer's, I found it to be a very complex, very interesting, unique story, the action as well as the family man and the disease, I found all of those things really appealing and challenging

The actor also hopes the show will bring more "awareness to dementia" through a character who on first glance might not seem all that redeemable. Yet, Angelo’s story is compelling as his confidence starts to waiver, when he’s faced with his own vulnerabilities and mortality, all of which Dempsey is proud to share on-screen.

"I think it's a very hard time to be a man right now, right? I think because of the #MeToo movement, what we're seeing with the Epstein files, all of this stuff that there's a toxicity to it, but yet there needs to be a masculinity as well," he begins.

"Our job is to protect our family, to provide, to be a gentleman, to be strong, to do all of these things, but at the same time, it's important to show vulnerability, to admit that you have made a mistake, and it's okay.

"I think that there are not very many role models like that, certainly not in government. There are in some of our athletes, some of our actors, although our politicians are struggling a bit right now and it's a very hard period of time."

Concluding his thoughts, he explained: "To be a gentleman, what does that mean? We need to teach these values and there has to be some honour and dignity in that. And if you do make a mistake, you come forward and you admit that and there's a strength in showing that."

Memory of a Killer is available to stream on Prime Video in the UK

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