Liam Payne missed out on Peaky Blinders role

Liam Payne missed out on a role in \'Peaky Blinders\'.

Although the 26-year-old singer had meetings about taking on the part of Billy Grade in the BBC One drama, he ultimately lost out to former \'Hollyoaks\' actor Emmett J. Scanlan, 40, as producers felt they needed someone more mature.

Speaking on Jessie Ware\'s \'Table Manners\' podcast, Liam said: "I spoke to them, there\'s a character on this season. I met the guy who writes it a little while ago, Steven Knight, and we spoke about doing some sort of character that was from Wolverhampton like me so it would be natural for me to play it. Almost like playing me but as a character which would be the coolest thing ever.

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"They had this guy called Billy who is obviously in the new series but they went for someone who is a little bit older because he had to have been through a phase where he\'s played football and then retired from it which obviously doesn\'t work for me."

While the retired footballer part of the role would not have worked for Liam, no doubt he was drawn to the character because of his post-football role.

Billy\'s character description on the BBC website reads: "Billy used to be a professional footballer, but now he sings for a living, and he loves what he does. All that will change when the Peaky Blinders make him an offer he can\'t refuse."

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Meanwhile, Liam previously revealed he had his sights set on Hollywood after auditioning for a role in West Side Story and he said he is also interested in action movie roles.

He said: "I just want to do action films. I need to do something, like, really action-based."

And the \'Stack It Up\' singer previously revealed his dream role would be playing James Bond.

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He said: "I mean James Bond straight off let\'s be honest. I love Daniel Craig as Bond, not to say he is the best Bond ever but it\'s up for discussion.

"I love super hero films so I\'d love to be in a Marvel movie, I\'ve always wanted to be super hero since I was a kid and the only way to really do that is to get in the Marvel ranks or the DC ranks. I love the idea of acting. It\'s something I\'ve been wanting to do for a long time. Singing will always be my first love though."

Previously, Liam spoke about wanting to try his hand at acting, as he said he considers it to be one of his "biggest aims" - and would even like to end up playing Batman.

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Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: "One of my biggest aims to do is acting. When I watch a film it hits me in a certain way. Maybe Batman or whatever who knows."