7 Famous James Bond Auditions That Almost Changed 007 Forever

Published Nov 3, 2026, 9:30 AM EST Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture. Given the popularity of the suave super spy and his adventures, it's par for the course that many talented actors have gone for and just missed out on playing James Bond - with some even making it to the audition stage. With major legacy roles like James Bond or Batman, the matter of casting is usually an intensive-sounding one, with those involved in picking these iconic heroes generally wanting to test the waters with a fair range of actors to make sure the right one is selected. As specific visions for movies are often crafted before casting begins, plenty of actors who could logically nail specific characters can miss out on parts like that of 007 because they don't fit the exact parameters required, rather than not being good enough at their craft. This also means plenty of actors can audition for the role and not get it even if they seemed like solid picks for the opportunity, because the nuance of what's being looked for may contrast with said actor's understanding of what's being asked for. While this is a shame for those who narrowly missed out on the chance to play James Bond, it does make learning the behind the scenes stories about who almost took on specific eras of 007's story endlessly more engrossing. This is doubly true given that all of these actors would've brought about a different overall landscape for the world of James Bond movies in their own ways. Henry Cavill Image credit: © Black Bear /Courtesy Everett Collection Years before he would become known as the DCEU's Superman - and later Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's The Witcher - Henry Cavill auditioned for the role of James Bond, hoping to be the actor picked for the era of 007 that would start with Casino Royale. Though Casino Royale's James Bond role would go to Daniel Craig instead, Cavill's audition has been noted to be a promising one. Director Martin Campbell stated that Cavill's performance was solid, and that he was passed on for the role more because he was slightly too young for the version of Bond that was envisioned (as per The Hollywood Reporter), rather than this seeming to be a matter of acting talent. Had Cavill been cast for the role, this would have changed two major franchises in a big way. Not only would the 007 series have gotten a Bond whose physicality and history with action stories would have no doubt been reflected in his on-screen performance, the DCEU also would seemingly have had to cast a different Superman too, to avoid filming conflicts. Sam Neill Sam Neill's audition for 007 came after Roger Moore's time as Bond came to a conclusion, with Neill being one of the viable candidates for his replacement in The Living Daylights. Interestingly enough, it seems as though Neill was very much a frontrunner for the film, with director John Glen reportedly having been inclined towards picking the actor for the role (as per The Hollywood Reporter), though Timothy Dalton would be cast instead. Given Neill was and is still best known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park series, it would have been interesting to see whether broader audiences struggled more to see him as the kind of more ruthless and no-holds-barred killer that we saw with Dalton's Bond, though Neill certainly did have a look that would have meshed well with the usual debonair getup of the secret agent. Indeed, while Neill's acting talents suggest he would have been more than capable in this kind of role, it also bears to reason his casting could have influenced the film to divert from the path it took with Timothy Dalton's own Bond to begin with. Given how this set up the path to the modern Bond films we have today, it's not impossible that this move alone could have totally transformed the James Bond timeline from the 80s up until today. James Brolin The Bond series has flirted on and off with the idea of an American actor playing the role for a long time now. James Brolin was one of the earlier efforts to consider an American actor for the role, following then-current James Bond actor Roger Moore considering retiring after 1981's For Your Eyes Only. Brolin's screen test for the role displayed his ability to do some convincing secret spy fight scenes, and it seemed for a short while as though he was set to be the next Bond. However, these plans failed to come to fruition due to Moore returning to the role for 1983's Octopussy. With that said, it's fascinating to consider what might have been the case if Brolin had indeed gotten the role. Brolin's capacity for comedy, and his decidedly varied filmography in terms of genre means he could have well been the most all-rounded Bond casting to date had things become reality. Similarly, the actor's history with sci-fi before the 1980s might have lent itself nicely to a 007 who was very much at home with using larger-than-life spy gadgets in a casual and cool manner. Dominic West Having made a name for himself in the world of crime dramas thanks to his famous performance in The Wire as Jimmy McNulty, it's easy to see how the same skillset that made West a believable Baltimore detective could have also made him a solid 007 casting. This concept is furthered by West being a standout actor more generally, as is in some ways symbolically reflected in his story about showing up in plain clothes for his audition, when other actors appeared in Bond-styled tuxes (as per Esquire). The actor's comments that James Bond is "pretty much a superhero, and I think he should be more of a soldier" (via The Scotsman) do suggest West might have played his version of 007 in a different manner. While we've had no shortage of more high-octane Bonds, the idea of a "soldier Bond" speaks to a performance that could have been the spy's most grounded yet, which could have worked both for and against West and the franchise overall. Michael Gambon Michael Gambon's personal perspective on the matter of his James Bond audition is one that doesn't hold anything back. The actor stated to Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show that, when he was one of several stage actors interviewed for the role, he told them he didn't believe he was right for the role, commenting: "I can’t play James Bond, because I’m bald, I’ve got a double chin and I’ve got girl’s t*ts." Given Michael Gambon's perspective on the matter, it's likely any more powerful James Bond performance from Gambon would've required either some major convincing of the actor, or otherwise a move to a less combat-based and perhaps more cerebral or cunning Bond, to allow Gambon to lean into the intellectual side of things in his performance. Anthony Starr Image via Everett Collection Now that Anthony Starr is best known for playing a flying, superhuman villain who can shoot laser beams from his eyes in the form of The Boys' Homelander, it might seem surreal to consider him in the less fantastical - if still often over-the-top - world of spies as a prospective candidate for 007. However, this was indeed the case long before the actor appeared in The Boys, with Starr being one of the candidates for Casino Royale's Bond. With Anthony Starr's audition for James Bond being one that has since leaked online, we have a direct vantage point into what Starr's spy could have looked like. Starr's smooth delivery and careful use of expression in this tape certainly suggest the actor could have nailed the role, and his filmography only supports the idea, as Anthony Starr has historically given his all to his roles. Given Starr's greatest strength is his ability to imbue his characters with layered personalities that carry considerable depth, it does also seem more likely than not that his James Bond would have been one of the most three-dimensional feeling in the franchise's history, and may have felt far more individual in some senses than even other similar Bonds, crafting a distinct era for the hero. Sam Worthington Netflix Sam Worthington is another actor whose filmography makes it surreal to consider them as James Bond today. Worthington is now instead associated with the Avatar franchise and a decidedly different story of the blue Na'vi finding their way on their home planet of Pandora, rather than the human-centered stories James Bond naturally hinges around. Regardless, Worthington was also another notable candidate for the role of Casino Royale's James Bond, presenting a very different story as to how his movie timeline could have unfurled. As it stands, Sam Worthington's history playing hardened roles looks as though it could have made him an engrossing Bond, with a kind of believable grit, and an everyman charm that could also make him a convincing spy in this sense. Interestingly enough, though, it seems the real-world timeline is the actor's preferred one. Worthington noted in an interview with Australian radio station Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa (via Metro) that he was unsure of his delivery of James Bond's British accent, stating he "sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins", and also noted he felt he "just couldn’t get the charm" of the role down. Ultimately, this may mean his later success in the Avatar series instead was perhaps a better fit for the actor and franchise overall. TV Show(s) Fleming: The Man Who Would be Bond Video Game(s) GoldenEye 007, The World Is Not Enough, 007: Nightfire, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, Quantum of Solace, James Bond 007: From Russia with Love, James Bond 007: Blood Stone, GoldenEye 007 Remake, 007: Agent Under Fire