When a new James Bond is cast, it’s tough not to irritate the fan base. George Lazenby was a controversial choice because he’s Australian; Daniel Craig was a controversial choice because he’s blond — 007 fans will find the most ridiculous things to complain about.
Under the watchful eyes of Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, and later Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the search for a new Bond has never been an easy task. Plenty of actors have been considered for the role, or even outright offered it, over the years. So, here are 10 actors who were almost cast as James Bond.
Cary Grant
When 007 was first brought to the big screen, the producers’ — and Ian Fleming’s — top choice for the role was Cary Grant. However, Grant was unsure about committing to more than one or two movies.
At the age of 58, he also felt that he was too old to play Bond. Plus, Grant’s salary would’ve cost the entire budget of Dr. No, so it just wasn’t feasible.
Ewan McGregor
The role of Bond was once offered to Ewan McGregor, but he turned it down, fearing that he would be typecast as a gentleman spy or at the very least, an action hero.
Gerard Butler was also offered the role around the same time and turned it down for the same reason. Both actors’ careers have turned out just fine, as McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi and Butler played King Leonidas.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman was approached for the role of Bond when Casino Royale was in development, but he had to turn it down, because he didn’t have time to star in the X-Men movies as Wolverine and play James Bond every couple of years. There are only so many hours in a day.
Not committing to two major franchises allowed Jackman to appear in smaller, more artistic movies like Prisoners, The Prestige, and The Fountain.
Burt Reynolds
Although 007 fans would probably have a difficult time accepting an American actor in the role of James Bond, the producers once offered the role to all-American Burt Reynolds after one of them saw him on TV and thought he had a Bond-ian quality.
Ironically, Reynolds turned it down due to his own fears that Bond fans wouldn’t accept an American in the role. This reasoning didn’t stop the producers from considering other American actors, including Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, and Steve McQueen.
Karl Urban
Karl Urban was once invited in to do a screen test for the role of 007. However, he was unable to make the time they wanted him for, due to his commitments to shooting another project, so he didn’t get to do it.
Urban went on to play Bones in the rebooted Star Trek franchise and Judge Dredd in the criminally underrated, ultraviolent Dredd.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson has actually been up for the part on two separate occasions. First, he was considered for The Living Daylights, but the producers turned him down because he’s not British.
Next, he was considered for GoldenEye, but he couldn’t make the shoot because he was scheduled to direct and star in Braveheart at the same time.
Sam Neill
Pierce Brosnan was first considered for the role of 007 for The Living Daylights. However, Brosnan’s commitments to his TV series Remington Steele meant that he couldn’t commit to playing Bond, so Timothy Dalton landed the part instead.
Also considered for The Living Daylights alongside Brosnan and Dalton was Sam Neill, who got as far as doing a screen test. Neill didn’t end up playing Bond, but he’d get his due as a franchise lead when he played Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s record-busting, critically acclaimed Jurassic Park.
Liam Neeson
At one point, Liam Neeson was offered the role of 007, but he turned it down because he didn’t want to be typecast as an action hero.
Ironically, in 2008, Neeson was typecast as an action hero — pioneering the “geriaction” subgenre of action cinema — when he played ass-kicking ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in Taken.
David Niven
In the earliest development of the Bond franchise, David Niven was one of the producers’ top choices to play 007. However, Niven rejected the role, because he felt that he was too old to play a secret agent for several movies.
Niven did end up playing 007 in Casino Royale — not the one with Daniel Craig, but the 1967 parody featuring Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, and Orson Welles.
Henry Cavill
When a darker version of Bond was being cast for the gritty reboot Casino Royale, Henry Cavill was the runner-up behind Daniel Craig. Cavill ended up playing a darker version of Superman in the gritty reboot Man of Steel instead.
After the shortlist came down to Craig and Cavill, the producers chose to offer the role to the former because the latter was deemed too young at 22 years old. If Craig had turned down the offer, Cavill would’ve been cast.