James Bond legend Roger Moore insisted Saturday he had said nothing racist about fellow British actor Idris Elba -- tipped to play the superspy next -- in a French magazine interview.
The
87-year-old star, who played the suave British agent in seven films from
1973 to 1985, insisted his meaning had been lost in translation.
"An
interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about
Idris Elba. That is simply untrue," Moore wrote on Twitter, using the
hashtag "Lost in translation".
He
added: "When a journalist asks if 'Bond should be English' and you
agree, then quotes you saying it about Idris Elba it's out of context."
Reproductions of the interview have led to Moore being blasted by Twitter users.
In the interview, Moore was talking about the different actors who have played agent 007 on screen.
In
the 23 official Bond films to date, the title role has been played in
turn by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce
Brosnan and Daniel Craig, who is currently shooting "Spectre", due out
in November.