Previous James Bond Alternatives

dr. evan-gelist · August 2009

I just want to mention the actors that were previously considered to act as James Bond, and see what members thought of them and if they would have been good.

SAM NEILL
JAMES BROLIN
RUSSELL CROWE
JEREMY IRONS
SEAN BEAN
TOM SELLECK
and just my personal choice after Daniel Craig-
CHRISTIAN BALE

mrbond · August 2009

sean bean are you mad! here come the men in white coats!

Loeffelholz · August 2009

I've always thought Sam Neill would have been a fine Bond. I'd recommend his Reilly: Ace of Spies miniseries (about half of the episodes were directed by Martin Campbell!) to anyone who hasn't seen it.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by James Brolin's screen test. While I'd never want a Yank to play Bond, he seemed somewhat better than I'd expected. The rest on that list, except for Christian Bale, wouldn't be right IMHO. Bale could certainly do it.

Rick Roberts · August 2009

Sean Bean would have made a terrific Bond, he outclassed the inept Brosnan in GE and any future Bond preformance he did. He carried himself with the right amount of humor, screen presence, and physical prowess.

I am pretty much going to have to disagree with the rest of that list. I know most would advocate Sam Neill or Christian Bale though. Neill would have been another Brosnan and Bale is a very charmless actor despite his looks. Sure Bale had humor as Bruce Wayne but that when he is being a jerk, something Bond should never be.

Loeffelholz · August 2009

I really don't think Neill would have been much like Brosnan. His overall persona strikes me as very different from what had established Brosnan in the public's eye: Remington Steele.

Neill always carried himself with more gravitas, IMHO; if he'd gotten TLD instead of Dalton, I've always imagined he'd be a more straight and serious Bond---like what we have now. Of course, assuming it would be the same script, he'd have to struggle with the same uneven, 'Moore-hangover' material that Dalton did...so who knows how it would have played. Reilly, a well-written spy epic, served Neill very well.

Rick Roberts · August 2009

Loeffelholz wrote:

I really don't think Neill would have been much like Brosnan. His overall persona strikes me as very different from what had established Brosnan in the public's eye: Remington Steele.

Neill always carried himself with more gravitas, IMHO; if he'd gotten TLD instead of Dalton, I've always imagined he'd be a more straight and serious Bond---like what we have now. Of course, assuming it would be the same script, he'd have to struggle with the same uneven, 'Moore-hangover' material that Dalton did...so who knows how it would have played. Reilly, a well-written spy epic, served Neill very well.

I judge Neill based on what I have seen in his film work and I personally don't think he is that interesting of an actor. Just like Brosnan, he wouldn't have brung much to the table outside being "tall, dark, and handsome". He probably would have been a bit more straight faced but again, not enough to nominate as a Bond actor.

Oh one actor just entered my mind, Liam Neeson. Now he is someone who could have been James Bond in the 90's.

Loeffelholz · August 2009

If you haven't seen Reilly, I highly recommend it. A fantastic, Flemingesque 'Bondian' performance, and a more-or-less true story about a remarkable espionage career, spanning from 1903 to 1925 B-)

Neeson, whom I admire a great deal, wouldn't work for me. As a villain---or even better, a dangerous henchman---he'd have been quite good. He's attached to a Steven Spielberg project in which he's supposed to portray Abraham Lincoln, which interests me a great deal. I live in Springfield, Illinois, and Neeson has been in town a couple of times for research purposes.

Rick Roberts · August 2009

Loeffelholz wrote:

If you haven't seen Reilly, I highly recommend it. A fantastic, Flemingesque 'Bondian' performance, and a more-or-less true story about a remarkable espionage career, spanning from 1903 to 1925 B-)

Sure I'll check it out.

I live in Springfield, Illinois, and Neeson has been in town a couple of times for research purposes.

I am excited as well to Neeson as Lincoln as well. However I am afraid Speilberg is going make a far too glamorized portrayal, he's probably not even going to get into Lincoln's own disdain for black people and how he declared Martial Law. Speilberg did the same in Schlinder's List by making Oscar Schlinder some sort of "holier then thou" savior of the jews.

thesecretagent · August 2009

Christian Bale would be OK. I like Tom Selleck a great deal, and feel he never really reached his true potential as a film actor (he was brilliant in Quigley Down Under), but as Bond? Hell no!

Loeffelholz · August 2009

Unfortunately, Lincoln's life has begun to be 'reinterpreted' for political reasons...he was just a human being, and not a saint, to be sure, with his share of failings, like anyone else. He had a bats**t-crazy wife and struggled with depression of his own, which isn't the least bit surprising, given the tragic young deaths of most of his children. That said, I'd actually expect Spielberg to try to 'de-mystify' Lincoln somewhat, and bring him down to earth, mining his life's story for drama's sake---there's plenty there, after all.

I've heard one rumour that Sally Field might play Mary Todd Lincoln. She's certainly better looking than the real Mrs. Lincoln...!

Back on topic, though, Sam Neill remains my favourite of all "might've been" Bonds...although a one-off Cary Grant Bond, in the mid-late 1950s, would've been cool B-) But no franchise, then, so...

Rick Roberts · August 2009

Loeffelholz wrote:

Unfortunately, Lincoln's life has begun to be 'reinterpreted' for political reasons...he was just a human being, and not a saint, to be sure, with his share of failings, like anyone else

Well his mistakes were a bit less forgivable the most since he did abuse his power but yes, he was human.

I've heard one rumour that Sally Field might play Mary Todd Lincoln. She's certainly better looking than the real Mrs. Lincoln...!

She would be perfect.

Back on topic, though, Sam Neill remains my favourite of all "might've been" Bonds...although a one-off Cary Grant Bond, in the mid-late 1950s, would've been cool B-) But no franchise, then, so...

Speaking of Cary Grant, he actually had two opprotunities to become Bond in 1962. Howard Hawks wanted him as Bond in Casino Royale but Hawks withdrew after seeing an early print of Dr.No. Also Cubby Broccoli offered him the part but Grant declined because he felt was too old for the role, he was 58 by the time.

Anyway, I would also loved to have seen Cary Grant as Bond in the 1950's in Moonraker directed by Alfred Hitchcock, or Casino Royale.

jamiesd · August 2009

I always thought Lewis Collins from the Professionals would have been good in the 80's bond films.

chrisno1 · August 2009

jamiesd wrote:

I always thought Lewis Collins from the Professionals would have been good in the 80's bond films.

ditto
Sam Neill would have been fine also.
The biggest issue is that the scripts would ahve to be changed dramatically.
Dalton suffered through 1&ahalf Roger Moore leftovers
Sir Roger himself struggled a little for 2 movies until Chris Wood hammed it up a bit more
Brosnan and Craig benefitted from fresh writers
Neill or Collins would have required similar treatment but that wasnt going to happen in Cubbys cuddly family world.

Dan Same · August 2009

chrisno1 wrote:

Sam Neill would have been fine also.
The biggest issue is that the scripts would ahve to be changed dramatically.
Dalton suffered through 1&ahalf Roger Moore leftovers
Sir Roger himself struggled a little for 2 movies until Chris Wood hammed it up a bit more
Brosnan and Craig benefitted from fresh writers
Neill or Collins would have required similar treatment but that wasnt going to happen in Cubbys cuddly family world.

Could I just note that while I agree that the scripts are of enormous importance, I thought that Moore was terrific in both LALD and (to a lesser extent) TMWTGG.

In regards to Moore, I don't think he struggled at all (except in AVTAK, however that was as much due to his age as it was to any scripting problems.)

Regarding Bonds that could (or should) have been, I think that Sam Neill could have made a fantastic Bond. A fantastic actor, he has IMO the perfect combination of light, seriousness, ruthlessness and suaveness which would have have made him an ideal candidate.

blofeld#1 · August 2009

I would 've liked to see Rufus Sewell play Bond . Sam Neill would actually IMO be good for Brosnan's films. Sean Bean I just don't him doing well as bond. Great as a villain

thesecretagent · August 2009

jamiesd wrote:

I always thought Lewis Collins from the Professionals would have been good in the 80's bond films.

Yeah, I always thought he would have been good as Bond. What hapened to him? He was good in Who Dares Wins, but he seemed to just disappear. Martin Shaw of Professionals fame went on to do loads in TV, he was no better than Collins at the time.

Number24 · August 2009

SAM NEILL - yes, he reminded me of Connery in "Reilly - ace of spies".
JAMES BROLIN - No, far too american
RUSSELL CROWE - No, just can't picture him as sauve
JEREMY IRONS - No. Didn't know he was concidered, and I think he would have been wrong.
SEAN BEAN - Yes.
TOM SELLECK - Nooooooo!
CHRISTIAN BALE - Yes, I think he could have been very good.

I also think Liam Neeson and James Purefoy could have been good back in the day.
Michael Billington allways was an alternative to Roger Moore, but I never saw enough of his work to have much of an opinion. What do you think?

HoneyRyder'sGirlfriend · August 2009

Loeffelholz wrote:

The rest on that list, except for Christian Bale, wouldn't be right IMHO. Bale could certainly do it.

I really don't know how I'd feel about Batman, James Batman.

Sam Niell would've been a great Bond. Bean, maybe. Selleck, nah. I love Selleck but if I had to I'd want Selleck to be Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford as Bond. Brolin, maybe.

I think Carlos Bernard, Tony Almeida from 24, would be a great Bond, if he wasn't too short for it. Sorry, in my mind Bond is a six footer at least.

dr. evan-gelist · August 2009

Yes i think Sam Neill should have got the part if Dalton turned it down. But my money is on Christian Bale to replace Craig. Alot depends on the next film...

Number24 · August 2009

Bale is far too famous and he will probably be too old by the time Craig quits. Michael Fassbender or Henry Cavill are far more likely future Bonds.

DaltonFan1 · September 2009

Rick Roberts wrote:

Sean Bean would have made a terrific Bond, he outclassed the inept Brosnan in GE and any future Bond preformance he did. He carried himself with the right amount of humor, screen presence, and physical prowess.

Well this isn't exactly difficult

DaltonFan1 · September 2009

Can someone confirm for me if Sam Neill is english as the name rings a bell but I only seem to associate him with Jurassic Park

Dan Same · September 2009

DaltonFan1 wrote:

Can someone confirm for me if Sam Neill is english as the name rings a bell but I only seem to associate him with Jurassic Park

He's a New Zealander. Oh, BTW, I'm going to ignore your swipe at Brosnan. :v

dr. evan-gelist · September 2009

Does anyone think Dalton would have outclassed Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Carlyle or Toby Stephens, if he carried on as Bond?

DaltonFan1 · September 2009

Dan Same wrote:

DaltonFan1 wrote:

Can someone confirm for me if Sam Neill is english as the name rings a bell but I only seem to associate him with Jurassic Park

He's a New Zealander. Oh, BTW, I'm going to ignore your swipe at Brosnan. :v

But that's your second response to it.
Thanks for the info though.

dr. evan-gelist · September 2009

Number24 wrote:

Bale is far too famous and he will probably be too old by the time Craig quits. Michael Fassbender or Henry Cavill are far more likely future Bonds.

I take it you don't know Bale's age...

DaltonFan1 · September 2009

Christian Bale is 35, so if Craig quits after Bond 24 in 2013 and Bale takes over in 2015, he'll be 41, two years younger than Moore, two younger than Dalton, and one younger than Brosnan, when they all made their first films.

Number24 · September 2009

dr. evan-gelist wrote:

Number24 wrote:

Bale is far too famous and he will probably be too old by the time Craig quits. Michael Fassbender or Henry Cavill are far more likely future Bonds.

I take it you don't know Bale's age...

You are absolutely right!

)
I should have written "... and may be too old ...". But age isn't the main reason why Bale won't be
Bond - he is simply too famous and expensive. Before he became Batman he could have become a very good Bond

Osato · September 2009

dr. evan-gelist wrote:

I just want to mention the actors that were previously considered to act as James Bond, and see what members thought of them and if they would have been good.

SAM NEILL
JAMES BROLIN
RUSSELL CROWE
JEREMY IRONS
SEAN BEAN
TOM SELLECK
and just my personal choice after Daniel Craig-
CHRISTIAN BALE

Neill - yes. The others - no!
Bale has not shown me the charisma required to carry off the role. To be honest, I haven't seen anyone recently who I can imagine replacing DC.

Missed opportunities from the past might include Patrick McGoohan, Iain Ogilvy, Patrick Mower, Lewis Collins and Nathaniel Parker.

hegottheboot · September 2009

Clive Owen right after Croupier or Jason Issacs (kinda Dalton-like).

DaltonFan1 · September 2009

I agree Patrick Mcgoohan would have excelled as Bond, maybe even at the expense of Sean Connery. But for me, Bale seems an obvious choice to become Bond eventually.

Previous James Bond Alternatives

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