The actor who refused to sell their “body and soul” to play James Bond: “They wanted to own me”
Plenty of actors have grown up dreaming of playing James Bond, but it’s an entirely different matter when they’re presented with a contract offering them that very opportunity.
Of course, being a lifelong fan of the franchise isn’t a requirement to step into the tux of cinema’s most iconic secret agent, but having familiarity with the ins and outs of 007 isn’t a bad thing either. One star was thrilled at the opportunity, but things instantly soured when they saw the small print.
Once Roger Moore had finally retired from the role at least two movies too late, the never-ending spy story reached another pivotal crossroads. It was time to move away from the eyebrow-raising camp and toward something more gritty, grounded, and serious, but the hardest part was finding the right actor.
Through no fault of his own, Timothy Dalton didn’t get a fair shake of the stick. He only had two films to prove himself, and while his more stoic and serious bond was a refreshing change of pace from his predecessor, diminishing box office returns and legal red tape ended his tenure quicker than he’d hoped.
Before he was cast, the producers had trawled their way through audition tapes, screen tests, and film and television footage from almost every British or Antipodean actor they could think of, with Cubby Broccoli becoming particularly enamoured with the relatively unknown Andrew Clarke.
The Australian had gained local recognition for soap operas like Prisoner Cell Block H, Sons and Daughters, and Cop Shop, but it was his performance as the protagonist, Martin Barrington, in the 1985 World War I-set miniseries Anzacs that piqued the interest of Bond’s creative driving force.
He was flown over to the UK to test for the role of Moore’s replacement, and according to Clarke, he knocked it so far out of the park that he was presented with a contract. “I was thinking I’d get a mil for a film,” he explained to 007 Magazine. “But I would have cleared 50 grand a year. I’d never seen a 55-page contract in my life! They wanted to own me for ten years.”
Not entirely convinced it was in his best interests, he suggested some changes. “I said, ‘Look, make it double the money and halve the years,'” which was as far as the negotiations went. “They said, ‘Nuh, you’re on the next plane out of town.'” Clearly, Eon Productions wanted a yes man, and when they realised they weren’t getting one in Clarke, the talks ended immediately.
“I’ve loved James Bond ever since I was a kid, so it was a bit of a pity,” he admitted. “I was thrilled to be asked, but I couldn’t accept it on those terms. They wanted to own me, body and soul. When I wasn’t filming, they could hire me out to any studio they liked and pay me a small wage while they took whatever from the studio, so it was all just unbelievably terrible.”
Clarke didn’t enjoy the most stellar or memorable career, which was largely restricted to Australian TV shows and a handful of features, but he doesn’t seem to outwardly regret his misgivings about playing one of the most famous fictional characters on the planet, even though the contract was there, waiting for his signature to make it official.
