The Nearly Bonds: 10 Actors Who Almost Played 007

Lately everyone has been talking Bond, James Bond, as Daniel Craig suited up for his final turn as Agent 007 in No Time To Die which, after endless postponements, lit up the silver screen last month at long last. Arguably the most successful 007 of all time, amassing over $3 billion drawn at the box office prior to this final adventure, for the past 14 years Craig has come to define the role in the 21st century. However, what if things were different? What if another actor had taken his place, or the place of other famous Bond actors in history? We look at ‘The Nearly Bonds’: actors who came close to playing the famous MI6 spy, but ultimately didn’t get the part, either because something got in the way or, incredibly, the part just wasn’t for them!

Henry Cavill (Casino Royale, 2006)

The actor who went on to play Superman and the Witcher was director Martin Campbell’s choice to play the agent, given that Casino Royale was a reboot, featuring Bond at the beginning of his 00 status. Despite reports putting him in the final screen tests for the role against Sam Worthington (Avatar), Goran Visnjic (ER) and of course Craig, it’s thought that 22-year-old Cavill was too young for the part (Bond actors are usually cast in their thirties). However, now 37 (the age Craig was when cast), and with a much bigger star status, could Cavill be the man to continue the franchise?

Ewan McGregor (Casino Royale, 2006)

A popular star since his breakthrough in 1996’s Trainspotting, McGregor’s name is normally in contention when speculation rises about the next casting, but director Martin Campbell revealed that the actor turned down the role, either because of scheduling commitments or not liking the part. Whatever the reason, McGregor revealed in 2015 that he would be very interested in playing 007 – and he certainly has the charm to step into the tuxedo if producers choose to move in a more suave direction after the action-packed Craig years. McGregor would be a spy of sorts, with a small role in family film Stormbreaker.

Sam Neill (The Living Daylights, 1987)

New Zealand actor Sam Neill already played a popular agent in the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies in the early ‘80s. This put him in the running for Bond, with Neill even screen testing for the part but ultimately losing out to Timothy Dalton. The footage available suggests he would have been at home in the role, and might have given a more traditional performance than Dalton’s rather cerebral approach. Try not to feel too sorry for him, though – Neill would go on to star in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, making him a household name (and an internet meme).

Clint Eastwood (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969) 

The Oscar-winning actor/director was one of the biggest stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and revealed in 2010 that he was offered both the role of Superman (eventually going to Christopher Reeve) and James Bond following the departure of Sean Connery. “I was also offered pretty good money to do James Bond if I would take on the role,” he told the LA Times. “This was after Sean Connery left. … But to me, well, that was somebody else’s gig. That’s Sean’s deal. It didn’t feel right for me to be doing it.” Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a more American figure than Eastwood, something that would have clashed with Bond’s quintessential Britishness.

Liam Neeson (GoldenEye, 1995)

While his post-Taken work makes him an obvious choice for an action role, Liam Neeson might have seemed like a leftfield choice for Bond back in the ‘90s, given that his biggest role up to that point was in Oscar-winning period drama Schindler’s List. Nevertheless, he recalled in a 2014 interview that he was “courted” for the part that eventually went to Pierce Brosnan. He refused because of his blossoming romance with the late Natasha Richardson. “My wife-to-be said, ‘If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.’ And I had to take that on board because I did want to marry her,” he said. Neeson might have brought a tougher take on 007, given his later work in thrillers like Non-Stop, but he rightly went with his heart.

Richard Burton (Dr. No, 1962)

Perhaps more famous for his notorious relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton was a celebrated British actor whose work includes classics like Cleopatra, Where Eagles Dare and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Early in his career he was among the actors considered for the first James Bond but turned down the role, unconvinced it would be a success. He would go on to make another celebrated espionage thriller in 1965’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

Hugh Jackman (Casino Royale, 2006)

While he was smashing box office records as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman received a call in the early 2000s to see if he was interested in succeeding Pierce Brosnan. “I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond,” he told Variety. “I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real.” A versatile star known for a variety of hits including The Greatest Showman and Prisoners, Jackman was also concerned about his options to make passion projects, ultimately passing on the offer. “I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men, I’d never have time to do different things.”

Clive Owen (Casino Royale, 2006)

Having burst onto the film scene at the turn of the century with the thriller Croupier, The Bourne Identity and short film series The Hire, Clive Owen seemed the perfect choice for a post-Brosnan 007. However, despite being a logical choice, he very quickly ruled himself out, saying in an interview that he felt Pierce Brosnan should have stayed on. In 2014, he would call it “the best thing that never happened to me,” revealing that despite being persistently linked to the role, he was never offered the part. Those wondering what he might have brought to the role would get a glimpse through his comedy turn as ‘006’ in the comedy Pink Panther.

Christian Bale (Casino Royale, 2006)

Perhaps it’s more accurate to describe this as ‘Post-Brosnan’ rather than specifically Casino Royale, but the book Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman alleges the Dark Knight star was considered for Bond following his performance in 2000’s American Psycho. It then says that Bale refused, viewing the series as a “despicable stereotype of England and British actors”. Bale would go on to play Christopher Nolan’s Batman and win an Oscar for 2010’s The Fighter, so it’s likely he has no regrets. The closest the star has come to publicly speaking about the series was recommending Idris Elba as the next Bond in an interview with The Daily Beast.

 Adam West (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)

As with Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery’s on-again, off-again relationship with Bond in the ‘70s meant other stars were courted for the role, including Batman actor Adam West (Connery would return for one last film in Diamonds Are Forever, before making the unofficial Bond movie Never Say Never Again in 1983). As strange as it might sound given the camp nature of his Batman show, West was a popular star, and the series wanted to move in a lighter direction that would have suited West’s sensibilities. The actor ultimately turned the part down, believing a British actor should play the role.