Who could have played Bond as good as...?
Virgil37
Posts: 1,212MI6 Agent
We all know who played James Bond. We all know who could have played James Bond. But who do you feel from the candidates could have played Bond just as good as the actor who was finally chosen (meaning having similar success, being accepted by audiences,...). I'll skip Lazenby, since he only did one movie.
CONNERY TENURE.- from the candidates mentioned when Sean was chosen, I think Patrick McGoohan could have played Bond really well. Good looks, right age, 6' 1". Definitely a good candidate.
MOORE TENURE.- this is harder.Not so many known contenders. Around 1971 they wanted to americanize Bond, which I think would have been a terrible mistake, so the possible names like Reynolds, Eastwood or Gavin don't convince me. I'd say around that time Moore was just about the only one that fulfilled all requirements; british,good looks,tall,already established actor.
DALTON TENURE.- Sam Neill, even though I don't care for his test in TLD DVD, I think he could have pulled it off (although he should have worked out a little).
BROSNAN TENURE.- Paul McGann apparently impressed producers. Not that well known across the world, but neither was Dalton or Connery. His face is just how I envision the literary Bond.
CRAIG TENURE.- No doubt in my mind. Clive Owen could have been as great as Craig turned out to be.
CONNERY TENURE.- from the candidates mentioned when Sean was chosen, I think Patrick McGoohan could have played Bond really well. Good looks, right age, 6' 1". Definitely a good candidate.
MOORE TENURE.- this is harder.Not so many known contenders. Around 1971 they wanted to americanize Bond, which I think would have been a terrible mistake, so the possible names like Reynolds, Eastwood or Gavin don't convince me. I'd say around that time Moore was just about the only one that fulfilled all requirements; british,good looks,tall,already established actor.
DALTON TENURE.- Sam Neill, even though I don't care for his test in TLD DVD, I think he could have pulled it off (although he should have worked out a little).
BROSNAN TENURE.- Paul McGann apparently impressed producers. Not that well known across the world, but neither was Dalton or Connery. His face is just how I envision the literary Bond.
CRAIG TENURE.- No doubt in my mind. Clive Owen could have been as great as Craig turned out to be.
Comments
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
" I don't listen to hip hop!"
You are on a run!
I again totally agree with you!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
Yes, I remember it very well. It was around his "Four Weddings and a Funeral" hype in 1994. I myself never saw him as Bond, but maybe he could have played him as Moore.
Yep, Michael Billington definitely could have played Bond. He was a contender in the 70s, right?
Bean and Cavill had good potential I feel. Bean more for the darker aspects of the character, Cavill for the lighter aspects and his looks.
The contenders are well known, but who among them do you think would have been just as good as the chosen ones? Name one contender for each actor/decade.
Lazenby Era - Oliver Reed
Moore Era - David Warbeck or Michael Billington
Dalton Era - Sam Neill
Brosnan Era - Jeremy Northam or Dougray Scott
Craig Era - Clive Owen
I do think Burt Reynolds, when younger, might have been an interesting choice to succeed Connery, before Reynolds became a cartoon, and I would have been okay with Lewis Collins being given a chance. For a while, I though Ian Olgilvy would succeed Roger Moore, and I actually wanted Pierce Brosnan before Timothy Dalton to take the role. If he was a foot taller, I would have suggested Ian McShane after Connery.
Have made great Bonds. {[]
For a while, I also thought that Ian Ogilvy would succeed Roger Moore. He appeared the natural successor when cast to play Simon Templar in The Return of the Saint, it was as if he was being groomed for the role of 007.
And I also would have been okay with Lewis Collins. He pretty much had it all to be a successful Bond. The ability, looks, physique, he could be convincingly charming and tough in equal measure.
I'm still watching the Professionals -{
In it. He did say himself that he came on as too aggressive
In his audition, and so wasn't asked back.
Have played it very much like Daniel Craig.
McGoohan (of whom I'm a massive fan) would have made a great cerebral Bond but, being the first, would potentially have set a pattern that was less oriented on 'Martinis, girls and guns' and more on Bond talking his way into and out of trouble. And if that pattern set the mould, we wouldn't have the Bond we have now. So I really can't see anyone other than Connery playing the role as definitively (or auspiciously) at that time.
Dougray Scott impressed me in M:I2, too and could gave been interesting.
Dalton era: I would have been interested to see Daniel Day-Lewis...
1. Thunderball 2. FRWL 3. Casino Royale 4. TLD 5. OHMSS 6. SkyFall 7. GF 8. TSWLM 9. GE 10. FYEO
In the 60s setting, with the clothes and hair brushed back, to me
He was Bond in waiting.
I wonder what he did on his audition. Apparently Connery started fisting the table and shouting that he wanted "to see (expletive) money". Lazenby broke the nose of a stuntman...That was not considered aggresive by the producers. What on earth did Lewis Collins do? Spank Cubby?
Moore Tenure - Anybody
Dalton Tenure - Drawing a blank on this one
Brosnan Tenure - Sean Bean
Craig Tenure - Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender
1. Thunderball 2. FRWL 3. Casino Royale 4. TLD 5. OHMSS 6. SkyFall 7. GF 8. TSWLM 9. GE 10. FYEO
Yes, a little too young and a bit of a "pretty boy", but I don't rule out the possibility that he might have been able to pull it off.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
1. Thunderball 2. FRWL 3. Casino Royale 4. TLD 5. OHMSS 6. SkyFall 7. GF 8. TSWLM 9. GE 10. FYEO
I never saw Cavill as Bond. I was surprised when I read that he auditioned. He projects an honesty, a goodfellow quality, that wouldn't work for Bond (but it's perfect for Superman).
Collins would have blown them out of the window!
How much I wished back then that he'd get the role!
And I still do!
I've just read that he applied with the S:A:S and passed the tests but was not accepted because he was too famous back them.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Michael Billington instead of Moore
Sam Neil instead of Dalton
Liam Neeson or James Purefoy instead of Brosnan
Michael Fassbender instead of Craig
I must admit I have seen very little of the work of McGoohan and Billington, but based on what I have seen ...
Funny, I had Issacs on my Brosnan list and for some reason I deleted it before I posted. Good choice on your part, though. -{