License to Thrill (er)....

He’s widely renowned as the King of Pop, but it seems that Michael Jackson wanted to become a screen icon too as the first black James Bond.

According to renowned Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz, the legendary singer once pleaded with film bosses to let him play James Bond in the 1980s.

In his new tell-all autobiography, Ovitz claims that Jackson once revealed his wish to be ‘the star of an action movie’ during a meeting at his Los Angeles home.

The renowned agent says that he and associate Ron Meyer struggled to take Jackson’s stark admission seriously after his iconic black hat fell in a dish of guacamole.

Seemingly unperturbed by the gaffe, Jackson continued with a blob of guacamole sitting on his hat.

‘Then the blob fell off, and Ron totally lost it. I cracked up, too, and Michael stalked out. I found him and explained for 15 minutes that we hadn’t been laughing at him,’ Ovitz writes in the book. “Finally, Michael’s face cleared. ‘OK, Ovitz. OK,’ he said. ‘But I want to play James Bond.’ I am proud to report I didn’t laugh, this time.”

After listening to Jackson once more, Ovitz had to let him down gently – admitting that he was “thinly built, you’re too sensitive, you won’t be credible as a brutal block of stone.”

Although Jackson’s Bond ambition was never realised, he starred in a variety of big screen roles throughout his career – including leading roles in The Wiz and Captain EO.

Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Cary Joji Fukanaga will direct James Bond’s 25th big screen mission, after Danny Boyle’s acrimonious departure was confirmed last summer.