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Los Angeles - Daniel Craig's friend insists the actor has "come to an end" of playing James Bond.
The 47-year-old actor - who portrayed the suave spy for the fourth time in Spectre - has been speculated to be leaving the franchise to focus on new TV show Purity and now his actor pal Mark Strong has appeared to conform he won't be coming back.
Asked if he wants to play a Bond villain, Mark told Shortlist magazine: "Do you know what, I'd have loved to have played the villain in a Bond movie while Daniel was doing it because he's a pal and that would have been great.
"But I think he's come to the end of his Bond time and so it's probably never going to happen, but that would have always been great.
"Having played so many villains, it would have been wonderful to have done the villain of villains, if you like. Because a Bond villain has a status all of his own.
"He has been (wonderful) and he's loved it. But I think he feels like he's mined it. He's done what he wants with it.
"That point has come."
However, news that Daniel may not be returning to the famous franchise won't come as much of a surprise to fans as he previously joked he would "rather slash his wrists'' than do another James Bond movie.
Asked before the release of Spectre if he wants to play the leading role for a fifth time, he said: "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on."
