James Bond has a rigidly defined personality. He’s a gentleman spy who enjoys drinking martinis, seducing enemy agents, and thwarting megalomaniacs. He’s as cool as ice, maintains grace under fire, and doesn’t let his emotions get in the way of his government-sanctioned wetwork. 007 is one of the ultimate action hero archetypes.
Every Bond actor, from Sean Connery to George Lazenby to Roger Moore to Timothy Dalton to Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig, has captured this archetypal character beautifully. Within that archetype, each performer has found their own unique angle. From Connery’s coolness to Craig’s emotional engagement, every actor has brought their own qualities to the familiar role of James Bond.
Sean Connery Was The Coolest Bond
Sean Connery got Bond’s characterization right from the get-go. From the moment he introduced himself as “Bond, James Bond” in Dr. No, Connery’s 007 was a beloved icon. Not everything from Connery’s Bond movies holds up today – particularly their treatment of female characters – but the actor’s turn as 007 is timeless.
More than half a century later, Connery’s Bond is still the coolest. Thanks to his effortless confidence and charisma (even in the face of spy movie wackiness), Connery’s Bond performance will probably remain an unparalleled portrait of human coolness for another half a century and beyond.
George Lazenby Was The Most Sensitive Bond
George Lazenby only played Bond in one movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and the film’s technical achievements – like its cinematography and musical score – overshadow the model-turned-actor’s performance as 007. But Lazenby still gave a terrific performance and, like his peers, made the role his own. Lazenby was the first actor to succeed another in the role of Bond, and Connery had naturally left him with some enormous shoes to fill.
Ultimately, the greatest success of Lazenby’s performance is that he didn’t try to emulate Connery’s coolness; he humanized Bond with a heart of gold. Lazenby’s Bond is arguably the sweetest, most sensitive take on the character. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is more of a love story than a spy caper. Throughout the movie, he falls in love and gets married, and in the heartbreaking final scene, he breaks down and cradles his dying bride in his arms.
Roger Moore Gave 007 A Wry Sense Of Humor
After Connery briefly returned to the role of Bond for Diamonds Are Forever, Roger Moore took over with Live and Let Die and ended up staying in the role for more movies than any of his peers. Moore’s take on 007 wasn’t to everybody’s liking – his movies rely heavily on silly wordplay and slapstick gags – but his Bond performance is certainly unique.
Connery had nailed all the one-liners, but he gave a mostly straightforward dramatic performance as Bond. Moore’s Bond films were so humor-driven that they bordered on sly self-parody with a 007 who disguises himself as a clown and runs along the backs of alligators.
Timothy Dalton’s Take On Bond Was Faithfully Dark And Brooding
Timothy Dalton only played 007 in two movies before being replaced by Pierce Brosnan, but his dark, brooding take on the role has been praised as the most faithful. Dalton brought equal parts edge and pathos to the cold-hearted assassin who finds love in The Living Daylights and the vengeful killing machine determined to avenge Felix Leiter in License to Kill.
Dalton’s Bond isn’t entirely callous and insensitive – at the end of The Living Daylights, he risks assassination just to see his girlfriend’s first solo cello performance – but his turn as 007 is the closest to Ian Fleming’s original characterization of an unstoppable killer.
Pierce Brosnan Combined All The Best Parts Of Previous 007 Performances
By the time Pierce Brosnan took over the role of Bond starting with GoldenEye in the 1990s, audiences were very familiar with the character. Enough actors had played the part by then that every fan had a personal favorite (usually the one they grew up with) and subsequent performers taking on the role inevitably invited comparisons to their predecessors.
Brosnan’s 007 movies were criticized for their overuse of CGI and their underuse of story logic, but he was an undeniably awesome Bond. He has the suaveness, the dramatic abilities, and the excess of charm required to convincingly embody the role of 007. Perhaps the greatest strength of Brosnan’s Bond performance is that he managed to combine all the best parts of every previous Bond actor. Brosnan’s Bond exhibits Connery’s coolness, Lazenby’s sensitivity, Moore’s goofball humor, and Dalton’s grizzled edge.
Daniel Craig Gave The Most Emotionally Charged Performance As Bond
Audiences don’t necessarily go to Bond movies to be taken on an emotional journey. They go to Bond movies to see a tuxedo-clad spy getting in and out of shootouts and car chases, traveling all over the world in pursuit of a diabolical villain. But if a Bond movie can do all that and take the audience on an emotional journey, it’s an even greater experience. From his debut in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig defined himself as a more emotionally engaging Bond than fans were used to. Previous actors had kept 007 at arm’s length from the audience emotionally, but Craig brought them into Bond’s world and played him as a real human being.
Across five movies, Craig’s Bond fell in love, got his heart broken, fell in love again, got his heart broken again, fathered a child who he cared about more than anything, and made the ultimate sacrifice to save the world from the Heracles virus. Every step of the way, Craig leaned away from playing an action movie archetype and leaned into the humanity of each painful internal conflict. After the deeply moving emotional closure of No Time to Die, when Eon finally finds Craig’s replacement for the next Bond reboot, they’ll have a lot to live up to.