There are 27 films in the James Bond franchise, with seven different actors taking up the mantle of 007 over the years. Some of them have become fan favourites in the process, while others were either forgettable or even downright hated.
While ranking them, I took into account their acting, the quality of their movies and their resemblance to the character Ian Fleming described in his original novels. A couple of these actors score highly in all of these categories - while others fall wide of the mark.
It comes as the search for the next James Bond continues, with Bullet Train star Aaron Taylor-Johnson still the bookies’ favourite to claim the lead role since Amazon’s takeover of MGM Studios.
So here are all the James Bond actors ranked from best to worst... and if you disagree with my ranking, that’s too bad.
1. David Niven
A bit unfair to rank him dead last, considering he only did one Bond movie and even that was a parody (1967's Casino Royale) - but Niven's take on the character was devoid of any quality from the Ian Fleming novels, and certainly didn't capture anyone's imaginations as 007. | Roy Jones/Getty
2. George Lazenby
The only non-Brit to play 007, opinions on Lazenby are divided; some consider his James Bond to be the worst iteration, while others put down his "stiff" acting as simply playing more down-to-earth version of the character. | Michael Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
3. Pierce Brosnan
The Pierce Brosnan era of James Bond (1994-2002) started in spectacular fashion with GoldenEye, but as the quality of the movies fell away, so seemingly did Brosnan's interest in playing the role. He was considered to be "closer" to Fleming's Bond than others further up this list, however. | Getty Images
4. Timothy Dalton
Personally, I am a huge fan of Dalton's much darker take on James Bond - but the general consensus is that he pushed things too far for the average cinemagoer. | EON