The Actors Who Could Have Been Bond
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As die hard Bond fans we have all read about the actors who were considered for the part, but did not get it. For example - John Gavin for DAF before SC came back, Sam Neill for TLD who everybody wanted apart from Cuby Broccoli, Michael Billington who screen tested several times and ended up as Sergei Barzov in TSWLM, James Brolin etc.
I wondered who other fans would have like to have seen in the part. Personally I would have liked to have seen:
Sam Neil - he was excellent in Reilly Ace of Spies, and also made a low budget movie called Hostage where he played an MI6 assassin. I would have liked to have seen what he did with the part. I think his Bond would have been similiar to TD.
Lewis Collins - european fans will remember him as Bodie in the tv series The Professionals. Not sure if this ever ran in America. Apparently he cocked up an interview with Cubby Brocolli and didn't get any further. I think he would have had a good stab at Bond. As per his protrayal of Bodie few actors move from cuddly to killer as quickly or convincingly as Lewis Collins.
Who would you like to have seen in the role? I don't mean as a replacement for any of the actors who got the part, but just to see what they would have done with it.
I wondered who other fans would have like to have seen in the part. Personally I would have liked to have seen:
Sam Neil - he was excellent in Reilly Ace of Spies, and also made a low budget movie called Hostage where he played an MI6 assassin. I would have liked to have seen what he did with the part. I think his Bond would have been similiar to TD.
Lewis Collins - european fans will remember him as Bodie in the tv series The Professionals. Not sure if this ever ran in America. Apparently he cocked up an interview with Cubby Brocolli and didn't get any further. I think he would have had a good stab at Bond. As per his protrayal of Bodie few actors move from cuddly to killer as quickly or convincingly as Lewis Collins.
Who would you like to have seen in the role? I don't mean as a replacement for any of the actors who got the part, but just to see what they would have done with it.
Comments
Ian Oglivy
Looked uncannily like a young Roger Moore; starred as Simon Templar for a time; and was very good at conveying a mix of toughness and charm.
Gerard Butler
His accent might need a little work, but I was very impressed with his physicality and presence in 300.
Adrian Paul
At 47 he's too old for Bond now but like Butler he's a very imposing physical presence and could probably handle the action in his sleep. Also looks a bit like a young Sean Connery at times.
James Purefoy
I was really impressed with his acting in Rome; has a very commanding presence but also seems to be able to handle lighter acting.
Totally agree with you about Adrian Paul. Around the time all the speculation was running rampant in the press about who would play Bond in Cr I had just discovered Highlander on Sky and Adrian Paul would have been my choice. As you say he could do the action stuff in his sleep and he could be SC younger brother. Sorry he never got a chance.
I liked Ian Ogilvy in ROTS but I think he would only have worked as Bond if they were going to continue in the RM vein as he is a bit lightweight.
Jonathan Cake? I saw him in «Mosley» and didn`t look bad
Lewis Collins was under six foot but more than made up for this with his brutal physicality. Question marks remain over his ability to charm an audience, or rather his lack of it. I don't believe he would have been able to show a more sensitive side of Bond - I think with Collins his Bond would have been a relentless hardman.
Every Bond actor - all 6 - have managed to some degree of success to show us a sensitive side of the character.
I agree about Sam Neill, he would have been excellent, but maybe a little too thespian.
Lewis Collins and Ian Olgilvy hmm maybe.
The actor that caught my eye while Pierce was pondering whether to do DAD was Joseph Fiennes, who would probably see JB as beneath him now, but wasnt so well kmown at the time.
His performances have always been great....White Mischief, Jewel in the Crown...there is something in his eyes...a rather cold detachment, and a rather cruel mouth, which, after reading CR, describes Ian Fleming's Bond to a T.
Of course the only problem is, he has such fair hair...and freckles...so that I'm sure would have put the cat amongst the pigeons....:o
There was a report many years ago (if my aging memory serves it was around the time Roger Moore retired and there was the whole Dalton/Brosnan scenario) that Cubby liked a certain actor for Bond but was concerned that he wouldn't age well, thinking he would look too old too quickly. The name of the actor was tactfully withheld, but I always suspected it to be Dance. An excellent actor, and his Fleming was certainly better than Jason Connery's- plus he did manage to actually be in a Bond film!
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I've always thought Gerard Butler has all of the qualities an actor needs to be an outstanding 007.He's physically imposing and does drama and comedy equally well.In fact,Butler's performance as the charismatic mercenary opposite Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft in the 2nd Tomb Raider film is practically his screentest for James Bond.
And I'll second(third?) Lexi's mention of the younger Charles Dance as 007.Especially with his hair dyed black--as it was when he played Ian Fleming.Maybe with the long scar running down his right cheek,too...At any rate,Dance is a terrific actor.
I'd back Gerard Butler as well...couldn't take one's eyes off him in 300; talk about intensity.
Both of these guys were on all of those mythical (or not?) 'short lists' in the run-up to casting for CR. There really was a wealth of good choices out there...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
He exhibited a charming personality both onscreen and off, possessed alpha male looks, and had a great physique.
Could've been a GREAT Bond.
Lewis Collins could have been a good choice - I can imagine him being as good as Dalton if not better. TD just didn't look like he approved of all the nonsense, fine actor though he is.
Neill - yes. Purefoy, Butler, West - no. Can't say why, but that's just my gut reaction.
The one actor I would have really liked to see as Bond is Nat Parker. While I re-read the novels a couple of years ago, Parker was the Bond I could'nt get out of my head. He would have been very close to Fleming's Bond, perhaps a little "old-fashioned" now, but authentic none the less.
Neill for me too. The thing that always struck me about him, was the close facial resemblance to Sean Connery, at least a young Sean.
Errol Flynn would have been perfect as Bond if the series had been around in his day
He had the look, voice and ladies' man reputation to do it
He is a regular on all-time best-dressed lists to this day
Flynn never occurred to me, but I think he's an interesting choice. Very athletic, too, with a solid background in boxing.
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I'm not sure if he'd be a good choice but in the early 90's he was seen as an American actor and did have the American accent. He may of been able to go back to the Australian accent for the role if need be but he does fit the location criteria and looks criteria.
Anyway as the story goes they thought Mel was too short for the role and rejected him. It could of been massive massive money though with Gibson at his peak and the money machine that is the James Bond franchise.
He matches Flemings description of a Bond; a young Hogey Carmichael.
Must admit it made me chuckle when I was told.
I think Cary Grant would have been a good Felix Leiter, for Bond maybe Benidict Cumbersnatch, or is his a bit weedy?
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