The British actor who turned down the chance to play James Bond: “I’ve got tits, bad teeth, and no hair”
At this point, the number of actors who claim to have been offered the role of James Bond is wildly inflated. There is even a double-digit list of American actors who insist that they were once courted by the Broccoli family to take on the mantle of 007. Any time a Bond actor hangs up his proverbial spurs, the speculation about his successor floods the entertainment airwaves. Sometimes, the producers go with a complete unknown, like the Australian model George Lazenby. Other times, they opt for the most obvious option, such as when they rehired Sean Connery.
It would be impossible to list all the actors who have either turned down the role or been considered for it, but a quick overview of the options illustrates just how many different directions the producers have contemplated taking the franchise. Rex Harrison, Cary Grant, Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Sean Bean, and Christian Bale have all been on the shortlist at one point or another, making one wonder whether there was ever actually a clarity of vision about the character.
One actor who fell into the extremely cool category of candidates who were offered the role but turned it down was Sir Michael Gambon. His career was completely redefined when he took over the role of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise following Richard Harris’s death, but to reduce his legacy to this late-in-life success would do him a disservice. He was a prolific theatre actor who earned several Olivier awards and a Tony nomination, and was one of the most respected Shakespearean actors of his generation.
His film credits included The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Wings of the Dove, Gosford Park, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. On television, he appeared in The Singing Detective, Wives and Daughters, and the 2009 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Although he was somehow never even nominated for an Oscar, he earned four Bafta awards and nominations for a Golden Globe and two Emmys.
In 1970, producer Cubby Broccoli was on the hunt for his next Bond after Lazenby’s exit. He considered Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds for the part, but was also eyeing Gambon. At the time, the Irish-English actor had moved to London and was one of the UK’s leading theatre stars. He had just started branching out into television and movies, but he had yet to make a name for himself with the general public.
When Gambon met Broccoli for the first time, the producer told him that he wanted a relatively unknown British stage actor because opting for an Australian model hadn’t turned out well. Gambon told him that he wouldn’t be much good. When Broccoli asked him why, the 30-year-old actor responded, “Well, I’ve got tits, bad teeth, and no hair.”
The producer was not deterred, telling the young actor that they had ways to work around all that. “We have two leather-covered ice bags on set,” he explained. “We put them on Sean’s chest just before a take and it wakes his body up. We can do the teeth.” Gambon relented, albeit in the least enthusiastic way possible. “Oh, all right,” he remembered saying. “I’ll do it if you want me to.” Not surprisingly, Broccoli didn’t take that as a yes.
