Talk:List of actors considered for the James Bond character

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Benchwarmers?
What is meant by benchwarmers? I think a brief description should be included as to what it means and possibly why each candidate is considered a "Benchwarmer" Spleep (talk) 22:12, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Patrick McGoohan
Surely he should go in as declined the role section as he regarded the role as too promiscuous as he did with The Saint which he also declined.REVUpminster (talk) 11:34, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

I have moved himREVUpminster (talk) 19:53, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Here's not referred to on the 2013 version of this page, have added him. 86.179.2.177 (talk) 20:05, 24 March 2013 (UTC) My mistake, have found him. 86.179.2.177 (talk) 20:08, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Sid James
If anyone has ever seen Sid James in anything, you know that he'd never be in contention for the role of Bond. So having clicked on the reference link, I read the article and then noted the date the article was published. The entry needs deleting, surely? Sloth 23:38, 21 April 2009 (GMT)

General Issues
I think that this page has some basic factual problems. If we're being guided by the title, I suggest that the discussion should be confined to actors for whom there is hard evidence (by which I mean not an unattributed quote in People or Hello!) to support the notion that the official MGM production crew seriously looked into having Actor X play Bond. For example, I understand that Pierce Brosnan may have publicly suggested Colin Farrell as his replacement, but that doesn't mean Farrell belongs on this list, because Brosnan isn't responsible for casting the role (moreover, there's nothing on Colin Farrell's page about ever having been in the running for Bond). And along those lines, if this article is going to include everyone who was ever in the running to play Bond from a public perspective, it should include Clive Owen. So my questions are: (1) is this article, as its title suggests, meant to be confined to actors seriously considered by MGM for the role of Bond, or is it about any actor whose name was in the running for the role according to the Hollywood/Internet rumor mill, and (2) if the latter, what other names are missing? Marguerite de Navarre (talk) 00:30, 14 December 2009 (UTC) Is their obituary seen as admissible evidence? I only asked because it still seems to create a huge, slightly unbelievable list. 86.179.2.177 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:12, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with most of your points. Some of the names listed here are dubious. For example, Colin Farrell. I followed the casting situation for Casino Royale very closely and I never recalled seeing his name ever mentioned as a serious candidate. Colin Salmon was mentioned by Brosnan in a widely reported interview but again we don't know if he actually tested for the part. On the other hand, Burt Reynolds, James Brolin and Adam West have been widely documented as candidates. I have also seen, in print, the names David Niven, Patrick McGoohan, and Christopher Lee all identified as Fleming's "first choices" for Bond. Nontheless, there are plenty of books out there that can be used as source material for coming up with an authoritative list of candidates rather than using gossip and dubious sources. Also, look back at the history of the Casino Royale (2006) article and you'll find the Bond candidates for that film quite thoroughly documented with sources. 68.146.81.123 (talk) 04:50, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree too - this is very badly sourced —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.0.4.33 (talk) 18:47, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Danny Dyer and Robert Pattinson were considered to play Bond? I think this has some MAJOR issues that need to be addressed right now.--EchetusXe 18:04, 13 July 2010 (UTC)
 * A basic combing through of this article reveals it to be mostly speculation I've found, with information that was contradicted in other Bond articles. Zero no Kamen (talk) 01:41, 9 June 2011 (UTC)
 * I see also that Rikki Lee Travolta has snuck in, linked to a dubious story about Bond fans sending him 135,000 copies of "Casino Royale" to get him to take the role. Since there has been a considerable kerfluffle over deleting his wiki page (which was finally accomplished) he needs to be deleted from here as well. Bpeschel (talk) 17:20, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

Reason for rejection
In the section on "Rejects", four of the points that appear under reason for rejection provide info that is not a "reason of rejection".

E.g., "Creator Ian Fleming's own choice" does not sound like a reason for rejecting the actor. (If it was, there seems to be a story here.)

Wanderer57 (talk) 21:08, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Delete seems to be too easy
For several months, I noticed that many members and non-members of the Wikipedia's community delete some of the contents of this page too quickly and too easily, for no reasons or any reasons. I suggest that we could discuss here which content should be deleted or not!

Seiken Flame (talk) 00:35, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Debunking rumor
Is it true Trevor Goddard was considered to replace Brosnan before his death? I need to know before I added speculation to the article 108.14.121.141 (talk) 08:14, 7 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I removed that unsourced claim from the actor's own wiki article because I could find no RS to support it. - Fantr (talk) 20:50, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Idris Elba
Hi all,

Just wondering if Idris Elba deserves a mention in this context. I believe there is no consideration from movie execs but ever since Skyfall there have been rumors that Elba himself has to either fend off or call upon the support of the public to make happen.

I guess this issue then stems from the obvious issue in the title. Considered by who? The movie's producers? The general public. Perhaps the title needs some work. 58.166.89.162 (talk) 11:39, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Purpose of second table
There are two tables here. The second one (starting with Richard Burton) does not have a heading. Is this the table of fan-supported candidates? Arbalest Mike (talk) 23:39, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Corrected by adding table closure notation. Updated all three table headings as well. Arbalest Mike (talk) 20:05, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Error: Richard Todd 1962
There is an error in this article. It was not Richard Todd but Richard Johnson who turned down the role in 1962. The Telegraph obituary cited is wrong. The two actors were often mistaken for one another. See the obituary for Richard Johnson http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11657151/Why-Richard-Johnson-would-have-been-a-lousy-James-Bond.html. Johnson talked in various Q&As about turning down the role and was quoted in the Hollywood Reporter article which is a quote: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/richard-johnson-dead-james-bond-800663.

Roger Moore 1962
I have read that Moore was considered or possibly offered Bond in 1961-62 for Dr. No but was unable to take the part due to being committed to The Saint. I can't add it because I don't have the source, though it's possible a biography of Moore might confirm. 68.145.72.31 (talk) 23:55, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

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Considered but chosen for a later film
Shouldn't some of the people be moved to a section like that? Both Dalton and Pierce are in the first section but ended up playing the role eventually.★Trekker (talk) 16:05, 21 July 2018 (UTC)

Tone tag
I tagged this page for its tone because several comments appear to be written like WP:GOSSIP. Article needs a general tone cleanup. voorts (talk/contributions) 19:53, 29 April 2023 (UTC)