“They know my character’s going to die because I’m in it!”

Sean Bean has died so many times on-screen that he’s had to start turning down roles where his character meets a grim fate. The actor told The Sun that audiences already believe he’ll die as soon as they see him pop up.

“I’ve turned down stuff,” he said. “I’ve said: ‘They know my character’s going to die because I’m in it!’ I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise it was all a bit predictable.”

Bean was just about getting away with his multitude of TV and film expirations until his shocking death as Ned Stark in HBO’s flagship fantasy series Game Of Thrones, where he was famously beheaded before the end of the first season – despite playing a relatively good guy in comparison with many of his previous roles.

Afterwards, the actor was memed into oblivion, and it all led to him haggling with a crew on one job. Bean ended up telling them that they were allowed to “injure [him] badly” but no more than that.

In the same interview, the former Bond villain suggested that Bodyguard star Richard Madden should take over as 007 after Daniel Craig retires with next year’s No Time To Die.

“He’s got everything that’s required of the role. He’s strong, he’s masculine and he’s also got a soft underbelly. He’s vulnerable, good looking — Scottish! I can’t see why he wouldn’t get the part.”

World On Fire, Bean’s new BBC miniseries, will debut late in September. Madden will next be seen in Marvel’s The Eternals.