Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan has stated that fellow Irishman and Oscar contender Cillian Murphy would make a "magnificent" 007.

"Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty's Secret Service," Brosnan told the BBC.

According to reports, Murphy might be in the running; however there have always been whispers about who could play Bond next.

Brosnan was speaking at the annual Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles, which honour Irish creative brilliance, reports BBC.

Murphy is expected to win best actor at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday for his portrayal in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

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He stated that he had not heard the Bond speculations and that he had not given any attention to perhaps winning the Academy Award: "I just want to go in and have a good time."

He faces up against Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Bradley Cooper (Maestro), and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), said the report.

Murphy also spoke about his 16-year-old son Aran, who will make his cinematic debut in Taika Waititi's Klara And The Sun.

"I'm very proud of him, he's a great actor," he told reporters on the Irish-themed green carpet, adding that Aran did not need his father's instruction.

Brosnan said he was "greatly honoured" to receive an Oscar Wilde award for his achievements to the cinema and television industries.

He hailed the "kinship" between Ireland and America, saying he arrived to the US in 1982 "on a wing and a prayer... and then got a job, [on the drama series] Remington Steele".

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