The James Bond franchise has been around for a long time and many actors have brought our favorite British secret service agent to life on multiple occasions. Most recently, Daniel Craig played the role of Agent 007 after first taking up the part in Casino Royale in 2006. However, after playing the role of Bond in 5 movies, Craig decided to retire from the role in No Time to Die.
As the franchise continues to look for a replacement, we will be looking at some famous names who turned down the role of Bond for various reasons. For instance, the legendary actor/ director, Mel Gibson was also offered the role of Agent 007 but he turned it down as the franchise required a more prolonged dedication to the role.
Mel Gibson revealed that he thought Sean Connery got stuck in the role of James Bond
Last year, Mel Gibson appeared in an interview with JoBlo and revealed how he felt about people getting stuck in some roles. According to Gibson, Sean Connery who played the role of James Bond for the first time in cinema, kind of got stuck with the role and was forced to do 6 movies. He said,
“If somebody scores a few points and people dig it, it’s kind of inescapable at some point. You make your bed and lie in it. Poor old Sean Connery couldn’t get away from James Bond for three decades. And then he started doing other stuff, like The Untouchables, and you realize, wow, there’s more to this guy than I thought.”
Sean Connery played the role of Agent 007 in 6 James Bond movies before he eventually retired from the role and was replaced by Roger Moore.
The Mad Max actor talked about why he turned down the role of James Bond
Mel Gibson further revealed that he was also offered the role of James Bond but the actor chose to turn down the part as he didn’t want to commit a whole decade or more of his life to only one character. He said,
“I got offered the James Bond movies when I was like twenty-six, which is like forty years ago, okay? And they said, hey, we want you to be the next James Bond. And I thought about it; I was in Australia, I was working with Peter Weir. And I did think about it, and I sort of turned it down – for that reason. Because I thought, look what happened to poor Sean, he got stuck there for like three decades.”
Roger Moore was playing the role of our beloved British Secret Service agent at the time and he played the role in 7 movies before he eventually retired. Since Gibson turned down the role of Bond, the position was eventually taken up by Timothy Dalton who also portrayed Bond in 2 movies before giving up the part.
Source: JoBlo
