James Bond: biggest actors who turned down 007 role - including Liam Neeson, Clint Eastwood and Christian Bale

James Bond may be one of the biggest British film franchises of all time, having made almost $8 billion worldwide over 25 films, but some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have had no qualms about turning the role of 007 down.

Daniel Craig made more than $80 million from his five movie outings as Bond, more than any actor in the role before him, and the hunt for his replacement is on with names including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, and Barry Keoghan in the running.

It’s incredible that such a competitive role, and one that would bring with it a staggering salary could ever be turned down. But more actors have said no to Bond than have actually played the character on screen.

Which actors turned down the role of James Bond?

Cary Grant

Cary Grant was one of the leading men from Hollywood’s golden age. His turn in Hitchcock thriller comedy North by Northwest placed him as an American counterpoint to the British Bond. In fact, he almost became the first ever screen Bond when the film’s original producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli offered him the part.

But the producers wanted an actor who would commit to a multi-film deal, and Grant then in his 50s thought he was already getting too old for the role. He offered to do one film and see how things went, but instead the search continued, and the part went to Sean Connery who made five Bond films on the bounce.

Mel Gibson

Gibson claimed that he was offered Bond in the 1980s, when he was 26, presumably as Roger Moore’s replacement, when he’d made a name for himself as a box office draw with hit films like Gallipoli and Mad Max. 

He said the idea didn’t appeal to him because of the huge commitment it entailed, and the impact it could have on his later career, and cited Sean Connery he returned to the role twice after leaving. Gibson went on to get recognition in the Lethal Weapon films, Braveheart, and for his notorious and offensive public outbursts, so maybe the Bond franchise dodged a bullet there.

Timothy Dalton

Yes, Timothy Dalton did indeed play James Bond, twice in fact, in The Living Daylights, and Licence to Kill, but not before turning the part down. He was offered the part almost two decades earlier in 1969, when he was just 23.

He felt he was too young for the part and ruled himself out, he did so again in 1979 when producers were considering replacing Roger Moore, but was finally convinced in 1987. The wait paid off, as Dalton’s Bond is generally recognised as the closest Ian Felming’s vision in the original books.

Clint Eastwood 

Despite the fact that producers have favoured casting a British actor as Bond, a decision reinforced after Australian George Lazenby’s poorly received outing in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a few overseas stars have been considered.

Before Lazenby got the part in the late 1960s, Eastwood, by then already famous for playing the Man with No Name in the Dollars trilogy, was on the radar to replace Sean Connery. However, Eastwood also believed that the role should go to a Brit, and the actor continued starring in classic westerns instead. He later bagged the lead in the Dirty Harry crime films and has had one of the most enduring careers in Hollywood.

Liam Neeson

We’ve had English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish Bond’s in the past, but Northern Ireland has never been represented in the franchise. The closest we got so far was when Liam Neeson got the chance to replace Timothy Dalton. 

Following his role in Schindler’s List he was approached by producer Barbara Broccoli and he had at first expressed interest. But when his future wife Natasha Richardson told him that if he took the part they wouldn’t get married because he would have to spend too much time away on set, he changed his mind. Instead, producers went across the border and picked Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.

Hugh Jackman

By the early 2000s producers must have thought the franchise had recovered from Lazenby’s portrayal as they went to fellow Australian Hugh Jackman to offer him the part after Brosnan. 

Jackman, who was in the early years of his Wolverine success, didn’t like the script, stating it was too ‘crazy’, and when he was told he would get no say in shaping the story or his character, he soon decided the part wasn’t for him. He’s gone on to have huge success with later X-Men films, hit musical The Greatest Showman, and intense thriller Prisoners. 

Christian Bale

Christian Bale is now synonymous with his role as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, but it was his disturbing performance in American Psycho in 2000 that got him noticed by Bond producers.

Bale was told that the part was “his for the asking” when Brosnan stepped down, but he reportedly hated the Bond character, claiming it was the stereotypical role for British actors. Instead, Bale took on the role of the Caped Crusader in 2005 - the year before Daniel Craig made his Bond debut - and went on to earn more than $50 million from the trilogy.