James Bond: 8 actors who turned down a licence to kill from Liam Neeson to Hugh Jackman

The list of could-be 007s who declined the iconic role is longer than you think

Liam Neeson, Clint Eastwood and Hugh Jackman are all believed to have come close to playing James Bond (Getty Images)

The name’s Bond, James Bond. It’s among the most iconic lines in movie history, growled by the most famous and badass of all secret agents, but while many actors dream of bagging the prestigious role, not every big name jumps at the offer of a licence to kill.

From Hugh Jackman reportedly turning down the role after feeling unsatisfied with plot direction to Ewan McGregor fearing typecasting and Liam Neeson being banned for marital reasons, the list of actors who have being considered for Bond and declined is longer than you might expect.

Of course, these are tough, immaculately polished shoes to fill, so much so that eventual Bonds Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton initially refused to play 007 because neither wanted to be the legendary Sean Connery’s immediate replacement.

But who might we have heard utter those five immortal words if only they had said yes?

Richard Burton

Hollywood’s Golden Boy was wary of risking an “unproven concept” as the first Bond and his salary demand was too high, so he waved the spy goodbye.

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Cary Grant

Grant was 58 when casting for Dr No got underway in 1961 and he discounted himself after deciding that he would only want to do one movie.

Rod Taylor

Probably the funniest reason for rejecting Bond comes courtesy of Taylor, who simply thought it was “beneath” him. No pretensions of modesty here, then.

Clint Eastwood

Eastwood felt strongly that Bond should be British and denied the role primarily on that basis, clearly predicting a backlash from Ian Fleming purists.

Liam Neeson

Neeson, easily best known for action films (and Schindler's List of course), didn’t want to play Bond in case he was typecast as an action hero. Bit awkward, but he’s said himself that his then fiancée, late wife Natasha Richardson, also would have refused to marry him if he’d taken the job...

Hugh Jackman

Wolverine himself was unimpressed at the direction in which producers wanted to take the character so stayed true to himself and passed it up in 2005.

Ewan McGregor

McGregor also didn’t want to be typecast, so he said no thank you to Bond and hurried off to sing some songs in Moulin Rouge! instead.

Dominic West

Once West got a whiff of the fact that Pierce Brosnan was being considered for the role alongside him, he reportedly pulled out so as not to compete with the eventual Goldeneye star. Time to start backing yourself more, Dom.

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So now it's down to you - did one of these names make you feel all 'oh' at the lost opportunity?