4 Actors Who Turned Down James Bond

Clint Eastwood was considered to replace Sean Connery — and turned it down

Already famous from the Dollars trilogy, Eastwood was on producers' radar to take over as Bond in the late 1960s. He passed, reportedly believing the role should go to a British actor — a principle he stuck to even as the producers kept circling back to American stars over the decades.

Mel Gibson was offered Bond in his mid-20s and simply didn't want it

Gibson has said he was offered the role around age 26, likely as a potential successor to Roger Moore, after hits like Mad Max and Gallipoli made him a box-office name. He turned it down without much deliberation — the producers eventually moved on to Timothy Dalton.

Timothy Dalton turned down Bond three separate times — before finally accepting it

Dalton was first approached in the late 1960s and said no, feeling too young at 24. He turned it down again in the early '80s when Roger Moore nearly stepped away. When the role came up a third time in 1986, a scheduling conflict initially cost him the part to Pierce Brosnan — but a contract dispute freed Brosnan from taking it, and Dalton finally became Bond in The Living Daylights.

Liam Neeson walked away from Bond because of his future wife

Producer Barbara Broccoli approached Neeson about playing Bond ahead of GoldenEye, and he was interested — until a conversation with his then-girlfriend, actress Natasha Richardson, changed his mind about signing up to romance a new co-star in every film. He withdrew himself from consideration, and the role went to Pierce Brosnan. Neeson and Richardson married in 1994.