List of actors considered for the James Bond character

This is a list of actors who were considered for the role of James Bond. Although never picked, these individuals represented some interesting insights into who and how Bond would have been portrayed if picked. This is a list of actors both officially (auditioned by the producers of the films) and unofficially (picked by fans and celebrities) considered for the role of agent 007.

Considered

A list of actors who were considered for the role James Bond, however they were not chosen for various reasons.

Actor	Year	Not-selected reason
Ranulph Fiennes	??	For having "hands too big and a face like a farmer".[citation needed]
Richard Todd	1961	Ian Fleming's first choice for the role, but scheduling conflicts prevented him from getting it.
Patrick McGoohan	1961	McGoohan turned the role down.
Jeremy Brett	1967	Reason unknown.
Patrick Mower	1967	Reason unknown.
Simon MacCorkindale	??	Reason unknown.
John Richardson	1967	George Lazenby won the role based on a screen-test fight scene.
Hans De Vries	1967	George Lazenby won the role based on a screen-test fight scene.
Robert Campbell	1967	George Lazenby won the role based on a screen-test fight scene.
Anthony Rogers	1967	George Lazenby won the role based on a screen-test fight scene.
Michael Caine	1967	Didn't want to get typecast as a spy actor due to the fact of having played Harry Palmer in many spy films.
Michael Gambon	1971	Felt he did not have good enough looks to play Bond.
William Gaunt	1971	Auditioned for the role as Bond for Live and Let Die but lost the role to Roger Moore.
John Gavin	1971, 1973	Left the role the first time when Sean Connery returned, and was denied the second time because he was not English.
Simon Oates	1971, 1973	Was strongly considered but turned down when Sean Connery returned; was working on other projects when Roger Moore was selected.
David Warbeck	1979	Acting considered too "wooden".
Daniel Pilon	1984	Timothy Dalton was chosen for the role.
Paul McGann	1994	Was given an audition and did impress producers, however production were still hoping to get Pierce Brosnan for the role, but it was believed that McGann would have stepped in if Brosnan turned down the role.
Lambert Wilson	1994	Pierce Brosnan was chosen for the role.
Jude Law	2003	Reason unknown
Heath Ledger	2004	Reason unknown
Eric Bana	2004	Reason unknown
Colin Firth	2004	Was not interested in the role
James Purefoy	2004	Reason unknown
Orlando Bloom	2005	Reason unknown
Jason Statham	2005	Reason unknown
Hugh Grant	2005	Reason unknown
Goran Visnjic	2005	Reason unknown
Ioan Gruffudd	2005	Reason unknown
Iain Glen	2005	Reason unknown
Dougray Scott	2005	Reason unknown
Henry Cavill	2005	Was deemed too young to portray Bond
Dominic West	2005	Heard rumors that Pierce Brosnan got the role and ruled himself out
Julian McMahon	2005	Daniel Craig was chosen for the role
Hrithik Roshan	2005	Daniel Craig was chosen for the role
Alex O'Loughlin	2005	Daniel Craig was chosen for the role
Rupert Friend	2005	Daniel Craig was chosen for the role
Christian Bale	2010	Daniel Craig is expected to return
Will Smith	2010	Daniel Craig is expected to return
Sam Worthington	2010	Daniel Craig is expected to return

Rejects

A list of actors who were considered for the role James Bond, however they were rejected for various reasons.

Actor	Year	Reason of rejection
George Baker	1961	Later got to voice the character for a significant segment of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Bob Simmons	1961	Later worked as a stuntman on the Bond films.
Christopher Lee	1961	Creator Ian Fleming's own choice.
Daniel Pilon	1967	Harry Saltzman felt he was too young, 27 years at time.
Eric Braeden	1968	Albert R. Broccoli thought he was British and told him that no one outside from outside the Commonwealth would be suitable as James Bond.
Lewis Collins	1983	Put forward for the role by many in the industry including producer Euan Lloyd.
Mel Gibson	1987	MGM suggested him for the role, but was rejected by Albert. R. Broccoli for not being British.
Christopher Lambert	1987	French accent prevented him from being chosen.
Clive Owen	2005	Over Contract Points
Mel Gibson	2009	Too short and too famous for the role
Robert Pattinson	2010	Because his image of being dirty and possibly his age

Declined the role

A number of actors who have come under consideration for the role of James Bond have declined the offer for various reasons.

Actor	Year considered	Reason for denial
Steve Reeves	19??	??
Rex Harrison	1961	Turned down in favour of Connery.
David Niven	1961	Turned down in favour of Connery (later spoofed Bond in 1967's Casino Royale) (Fleming's personal choice).
Cary Grant	1961	Felt he was too old at time being 58; also just wanted to do one film.
Richard Johnson	1961	Terence Young's choice but did not want a contract, because he was under contract to MGM.
Patrick McGoohan	1961	Role too promiscuous.
Rod Taylor	1961	Felt the role was beneath him.
Richard Burton	1959, 1961, 1968	Felt the role was a new untested concept/wanted more than the producers would pay.
Burt Reynolds	1968	Felt Bond must be British.
Adam West	1970	Felt Bond must be British.
Clint Eastwood	1971	Felt Bond must be British.
Liam Neeson	1994	Not interested in starring in action movies.
Colin Farrell	2004	Not satisfied with plot direction
Hugh Jackman	2005	Not satisfied with plot direction
Ewan McGregor	2005	Fear of typecasting
Gerard Butler	2009	Felt that it would ruin his career (Previously had a bit part in Tomorrow Never Dies)

Both Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were linked to the role at least a decade before taking it but declined for various reasons.

Dalton was offered the role in 1967 at the age of 21 and finally took the role 20 years later. Dalton denied the offer again in 1979 because he felt the plot directions of the Bond films were becoming less realistic and more dependent on gadgetry and repeated plot formulas.

Both Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton also did not accept the role for On Her Majesty's Secret Service feeling that he did not want to be viewed as the man who replaced Sean Connery. Pierce Brosnan was chosen as Bond for The Living Daylights, but had to leave the role because the show Remington Steele had been renewed, as Brosnan played the lead role. The role of Bond then went to Dalton. Brosnan made his debut as Bond in GoldenEye.

Screen tests

Here is a list of actors who have filmed screen tests using the bedroom scene in From Russia with Love (1963). Although not picked, their screen tests show some insights into how they would have portrayed Bond.

Actor (playing Bond)	Actress (playing Romanova)	Year
Sam Neill	Fiona Fullerton	1986
James Brolin	Maud Adams	1983
Sid James	Unknown	1962

In Bond films

The following actors were considered for the role of James Bond and succeeded into getting film roles, but as supporting or opposing characters to Bond.

Actor	Years auditioned/considered	Film	Character	Affiliation
Michael Billington	1973, 1979, 1983	The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)	Sergei Barsov (KGB agent Anya Amasova's lover)	KGB
Julian Glover	1979	For Your Eyes Only (1981)	Aristotle Kristatos	MI6/KGB (double agent)
Sean Bean	1987, 1994	GoldenEye (1995)	Alec Trevelyan	MI6/Janus crime syndicate
Colin Salmon	2004	Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) The World Is Not Enough (1999) Die Another Day (2002)	Charles Robinson	MI6

The closest one of them so far is Sean Bean, who plays a fellow agent Alec Trevelyan, who worked in exactly the same Double-0 branch as Bond and received the same training and technological outfitting from Major Boothroyd/Q. Colin Salmon was also rumoured to be one of many actors to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, a role that would go to actor Daniel Craig. Had he been chosen for the role, he would have been the first black Bond.