HIGH Wycombe-born actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been tipped to be next James Bond.

The 32-year-old actor, who grew up in the Bucks town, is said to have impressed Bond boss Barbara Broccoli in a screen test just before Christmas.

Speculation has been going on ever since Daniel Craig announced his departure from the Ian Fleming films. 

The odds are very high for Taylor-Johnson to be named as the next James Bond, currently a 2-1 shot with Ladbrokes, closely followed by James Norton at 5/2 and Superman actor Henry Cavill at 3/1.

Richard Madden, Tom Hardy and Rege-Jean Page are all between 7/1 and 8/1.

Barbara stipulated she had three criteria for the new Bond: he must be a man, be able to take over for the next 15 years and be British.

Aaron Johnson attended the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe between 1996 and 2008, studying drama, jazz, singing, tap dance and acrobatics. Other alumnae from this period include James Corden and Eddie Redmayne.

Like Daniel Craig, Johnson first appeared on stage aged six, although his first proper role was in a London production of Macbeth, as Macduff’s son. Like Craig, he took a role in The Bill when he was starting out. He also played a teenaged version of Edward Norton’s character in The Illusionist when he was 16.

Taylor has since appeared on major silver screens, including Bullet Train, famously Kick-Ass and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.