It’s time to look back at some of the James Bond contenders from years gone by…
As we eagerly (or maybe not that eagerly) await final confirmation as to who will play James Bond in the new Amazon era, under the auteur gaze of Denis Villeneuve, there have been lots of rumours and names in the running from Tom Holland to Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who seems to be the frontrunner).
However, with some 25 official films already out there, with six different actors playing the iconic spy, there have also been hundreds of potential names linked with the role over the years. From actors strongly rumoured to ones who were actually offered the role and turned it down, it’s time we took a look at some of the more interesting potential James Bonds. Here are ten former Bond contenders…
James Mason
An actor who perfectly encapsulated Britishness with a certain refined, ruthless demeanour when cast as a villain, James Mason may not immediately jump out as a Bond archetype, but way back during the casting process for the first major Bond feature Dr. No, Mason was a top contender.
In fact, one of the sticking points that eventually saw producers gamble on a relative unknown Sean Connery was the fact Mason would only commit to two pictures, rather than the three-picture deal they required. In fairness, Mason would have undoubtedly done something interesting (as would his North by Northwest co-star, Cary Grant, who was also considered), but it felt as if he’d be more fitting as a villain.
Ironically, Mason was close to becoming the villain (Draxler) in Moonraker but was replaced late on due to the co-French production insisting on a French actor for the role (Michael Lonsdale).
Oliver Reed
Oh boy. Just picture it. In theory, Ian Fleming depicted Bond as being occasionally uncouth and with a complicated relationship with alcohol. Sometimes rougher edges than what might have been shown in some of the earlier films. Still, it’s tough (yet intriguing) to picture the inimitable Oliver Reed as 007.
Bond casually enters the casino, bow tie slightly askew. He’s carrying a large glass of a slightly ominous orange beverage, so high in spirit content that it’s stripping the paint off the walls. He ever so slightly stumbles off the first step, but still, Bond batters every henchman that comes his way, one handed and doesn’t spill a goddamn drop.
Actually, I think Cubby Brocolli might have missed a trick on this one, but felt the time and cost to try and clean up Reed’s reputation was too great.
Clint Eastwood
After Connery’s first departure, all manner of names were rumoured for Bond, including Michael Caine, who didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a spy (having just played Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File). Still, while you may not be able to picture Caine as Bond, try and picture Clint Eastwood.
Tough, even though Eastwood would have bought an icy stoicism that would be effective. Bond’s quintessential Britishness would have felt lacking, too much of a jump for Eastwood to mould himself to that, or for Bond to be moulded to Eastwood’s on-screen persona at the time.
Eastwood himself turned down the role for that reason, feeling that Bond should be played by a British actor. It was also that same reason that Burt Reynolds (yes…Burt Reynolds) took himself out of the running.
Terence Stamp
Legendary British actor, the late great Terence Stamp, was no stranger to intense, cult cinema, earning himself a reputation for tough guy roles alongside enigmatic and daring cinema. The year he was in the running for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, he was starring in a Pasolini film (Theorem) that courted controversy.
He certainly had the looks and a certain bubbling powder keg energy, but ultimately, the producers felt Stamp would have been too intense as Bond, and the actor’s ideas for his approach to the character were deemed too radical by Harry Saltzman. One can imagine Stamp perhaps bringing some of the choices to the role that Daniel Craig did for Casino Royale.
Oddly, whilst Hollywood was generally going for darker, grittier and more intensity in action and thriller films, the Bond series heading into the 70s with Moore in the titular role, would go in the opposite direction.
Liam Neeson
Bond would have been great at threatening phone calls with this choice. When Bond needed relaunching in the early 90s, when Timothy Dalton wasn’t keen to return, there were loads of names lined up before Pierce Brosnan eventually took a role he’d actually declined prior to T-Dalt taking it.
Sean Bean was one in the frame for GoldenEye (of course, Bean was liked enough to be cast as 006) while another was Liam Neeson. According to the man himself, he was very close to getting it, but his then-wife, the late Natasha Richardson, wasn’t keen on him taking the role, given all the baggage that comes with it. Undoubtedly, though, Neeson would have been a great Bond at the time, even though it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Pierce in GoldenEye.
Ralph Fiennes
Another actor in the frame, around the time he was close to breaking big, was Ralph Fiennes (ironically, Neeson AND Fiennes would both break big with Schindler’s List). Historically, the Bond producers had a habit of courting huge stars in the rumour phase, only to opt for actors who weren’t necessarily huge movie stars. Connery and George Lazenby were unknown. Brosnan and Roger Moore were stars, but their biggest roles were on TV, and Dalton, though a movie star, wasn’t considered a box office star.
Fiennes certainly had every quality to make a compelling Bond and the ability to mix that cool and suave demeanour with the dark edge of a skilled killer. He later nailed the role of the most active M in the franchise with his appearances in Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die.
Clive Owen
For several years between the Brosnan and Craig transition, where a big shift was felt to be needed, Clive Owen was strongly rumoured. In fact, Brosnan almost didn’t stay for his eventual four-film run, with occasional rumours he wanted out after Tomorrow Never Dies. The big thing that really nudged Owen into the frame was Croupier, Mike Hodges’ cult British crime thriller, with Owen playing the titular croupier (and aspiring writer) who gets caught up in a casino heist.
An enigmatic and stoic detachment, and a boyish yet rugged handsomeness made Owen a natural choice. With film fans, he was often received with a mix of responses. Some didn’t tune into that enigma, finding him potentially too dull for the part, though later cult movies like Sin City would end up boosting his street cred.
Henry Cavill
The man that the Snyder die-hards adore. Yes, Henry Cavill. His name has buzzed around Bond for almost 20 years and still remains a whisper in bookmaker inner circles. It’s probably a shade too late now for Cavill, with current producers wanting to go with a younger Bond.
His first association with the role, though, was when Cavill tested for the part before Daniel Craig eventually got the part. Cavill was ultimately, and understandably, dubbed too young. Still, with a recent association with action cinema as well as spy film experience with a starring role in Guy Ritchie’s The Man From Uncle reboot, we’ve seen a suited and booted Cavill looking every inch a Bond-style character.
He certainly would have played a good neutral version of the character, able to harvest some of what Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig all brought. Right now, there’s a feeling of the unknown with where to take Bond as a character, so maybe an all-rounder could be good.
Sam Neill
Another actor who auditioned for the role and wasn’t too far from getting it was Sam Neill. The Australian actor was quietly making a name for himself with some cult films in the 80s, before finding himself in the running ahead of The Living Daylights. Timothy Dalton (who had previously turned the role down prior to OHMSS) eventually snagged the part.
Neill’s leaked audition tape still pops up a lot on socials (likewise Cavill’s), and it’s a point of embarrassment for him. Yet, Neill would undoubtedly have brought something interesting to the role.
Christopher Lambert
Bizarre as it may sound, there was a point where French actor Christopher Lambert, with his iconically thick and unmistakably French accent, was in the running for James Bond. Again, ahead of Dalton’s eventual casting, Lambert had already gained some status in Hollywood and the UK, having played the title role in Warner Bros. Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan as well as cult classic Highlander (opposite Mr Connery, of course).
So what eventually ruled the charismatic and enigmatic Lambert out? The accent proved to be a sticking point in the end, even though off the back of his aforementioned roles and his success in his native France with Subway (and others) studios felt he was a star in the making. Interestingly, fellow Frenchman Lambert Wilson was also once in the frame for Bond.
Other Notables:
Ian Ogilvy (as with The Saint, to replace Roger Moore in Octopussy, when Moore was on the fence about another outing), David Niven (a contender for Dr. No, who would later play Bond in the non-legacy adaptation of Casino Royale), Mel Gibson (ultimately rejected for not being British) and Paul McGann (his audition for GoldenEye impressed and he reportedly was backup were Brosnan to back out).
Which version of Bond would you have liked to see? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
