The 2003 movie that retired Sean Connery: “I’m fed up with the idiots”
Actors who have played James Bond tend to be eternally remembered for their efforts as 007 rather than any of their other performances, such is the iconic nature of the spy characters, and that’s something that can certainly be said about Sean Connery, who famously portrayed James Bond in seven movies between 1962 and 1983.
Connery had also worked with the legendary directors Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston on several remarkable occasions and featured in quality films throughout his career, including Time Bandits, Highlander, The Name of the Rose, The Untouchables and The Rock, proving the majesty of his time as an actor.
The legendary picture of Connery as Bond is emblazoned so deeply onto the annals of cinematic history that the star will certainly be forever remembered as one of the defining faces of the art form. Add to this his incredible life story, wich involves fighting gangsters on set and being a merchant navyman, Connery’s career is one never to be forgotten.
Yet for all the acclaim he received, Connery spent much of his later career attempting to step out from Bond’s shadow. While many actors would have embraced being forever associated with such an iconic role, Connery often appeared frustrated that audiences overlooked the breadth of work he produced outside the spy franchise.
Eventually, it seemed as though Connery had had enough of acting and the movie industry and in 2003, he retired, leaving behind a remarkable legacy in film history. Connery might have liked to have gone out with a bang, but sadly, his final movie was something of a disappointment from a critical perspective if it was commercially successful.
The actor bowed out with the steampunk superhero movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, directed by Stephen Norrington, based on the comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. It tells of several literary characters who serve as superheroes of the Victorian-era 19th century. Connery famously hated the film, and eventually, it proved to force his hand into retirement.
“I’m fed up with the idiots,” Connery told The New Zealand Herald upon his retirement. “The ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who greenlight the movies. I don’t say they’re all idiots. I’m just saying there’s a lot of them that aren’t very good at it.”
Work with idiots, he never did again, and left The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen behind as his last ever on-screen appearance. It provides a somewhat sad end for the iconic Connery. His position in the pantheon of cinema history is unshakable, but movies like this almost tarnished it. The film was not the only one of Connery’s efforts that he seemed to hate, though; he’d even expressed his dislike of the one he was most known for.
Although his comments were characteristically blunt, they reflected a growing disillusionment with the modern film industry. Connery had spent a lifetime working alongside some of cinema’s greatest directors and craftsmen, making it increasingly difficult for him to tolerate projects that lacked the same level of care and creative vision.
“I have always hated that damned James Bond,” he once told The Guardian. “I’d like to kill him.” Connery felt that he offered several performances of note but could never escape the fact that he’d played the iconic British spy. Still, at least 007 wasn’t so bad that he quit the film industry, unlike The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Thankfully, Connery’s legacy was never going to be defined by his final film. Whether audiences remember him as James Bond, Jim Malone in The Untouchables or one of the many commanding figures he portrayed across five decades on screen, his influence on cinema remains secure. If The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen marked an unfortunate farewell, it did little to diminish the extraordinary body of work that came before it.
