The actor who refused to play James Bond because they found the sex scenes “insidious”
Not to put too fine a point on it, but James Bond has always been a mad shagger. For better or worse, 007’s promiscuity has always been a central part of the character, which was enough to make one actor turn down the role when it was offered their way.
Obviously, since Sean Connery introduced Ian Fleming’s literary creation to the cinemagoing masses in 1962, every name who’s auditioned for the part since then has gone in with their eyes fully open, knowing that if they get the part, they’re nigh-on obligated to add a few notches to their bedpost.
Although it was an aspect of the franchise that gradually diminished throughout Daniel Craig’s run, without being eliminated entirely, the actors who unsuccessfully tried to fill Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan’s shoes would have known what they were getting themselves in for.
That wasn’t the case back in the early ’60s, when Cubby Broccoli was on the hunt for his first Bond. His dream candidate was Cary Grant, but when he suggested that he was far too old for the job and refused to even contemplate signing on for more than one film, the producer was sent back to the drawing board.
Richard Burton didn’t trust the premise enough to commit to the money that was being offered, James Mason declined when he wouldn’t agree to sign on for any more than two pictures, and Rod Taylor thought that 007 was beneath an actor of his station, which eventually led Broccoli to Patrick McGoohan.
He was in his early 30s, was a known name without being so famous that he’d overshadow the untested would-be franchise, and he was a great actor. The stumbling block was that, as a devoutly religious man, he abhorred the concept of playing a character who would be synonymous with his two no-go areas: onscreen sex scenes and gratuitous violence.
In his autobiography, Broccoli wrote that McGoohan “might have made a fine Bond, but he was strongly religious, and was uneasy about sex and violence.” You can’t be 007 without embracing either, and the Bafta and Primetime Emmy-winning thespian said much the same thing when reflecting on why he’d declined the opportunity to become the first person to bring a cinematic icon to life.
“I thought there was too much emphasis on sex and violence,” he shared. “It has an insidious and powerful influence on children. Would you like your son to grow up like James Bond? Since I hold these views strongly as an individual and parent, I didn’t see how I could contribute to the very things to which I objected.”
If that was how he felt about Bond and the corrupting influence it could potentially have on impressionable young hearts and minds, then it stands to reason that McGoohan probably wasn’t the first in line to see Connery and Moore seducing women with names like Pussy Galore, Plenty O’Toole, and Holly Goodhead. Even if he was, it’s hard to imagine him feeling like he’d missed out.
