Rory Kinnear has backed the Bond franchise to keep “progressing”.

The 43-year-old actor – who plays Bill Tanner in the Bond movies – isn’t sure who will replace Daniel Craig as 007, but he thinks Barbara Broccoli has a strong instinct for what fans want to see.

Rory told The Independent: “As a franchise it tends to keep changing and progressing.

“It’s always been white men thus far but I think Barbara [Broccoli, Bond producer] has a very strong instinct for audiences’ appetites. I have no idea what the decision will be.

“It’s interesting to see how much people do seem to consider it [the franchise] an important factor in cultural life.”

Rory first appeared in the Bond franchise in 2008’s ‘Quantum of Solace’.

And the London-born star still has fond memories of playing Scrabble with Dame Judi Dench on the set of the movie.

He said: “On the first film we went to Panama for eight days, and she worked for about three hours and I worked for about eight minutes. The rest of the time was spent playing Scrabble. But I couldn’t possibly tell you how many times I beat her. I’m too much of a gentleman.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Craig previously suggested that while Bond should remain a male character, he’d like to see more opportunities given to women and people of color.

Asked about the future of the franchise and what direction it should take, he explained: “The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”