Timothy Dalton Got Asked to Play James Bond in His 20s, but ‘I Said No… 24 or 25 Doesn’t Seem Right’ for 007 and ‘You Don’t Want to Follow Sean Connery’
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director Timothy Dalton said in an interview with Vanity Fair that he turned down an original offer to play James Bond in his mid-20s because he didn’t think the character should be that young.
Dalton also didn’t want to directly follow Sean Connery, whose initial run as 007 ended after six movies with 1971’s “Diamonds Are Fever.” Franchise producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli approached Dalton in the early ’70s to replace Connery. “There was a time when Sean Connery was leaving.
I can’t say I was offered it, but I was asked if I’d like to do it or not,” Dalton said. “And I said ‘No,’ because it seemed to me that the age of 24 or 25 doesn’t seem quite right for this character. … He needs to be [older].
You could play it at that younger age, but I don’t know that I’d believe it that much. When asked if saying “no” to Bond was a tough decision, Dalton responded: “It was easy enough.
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