Playing the iconic James Bond comes with a load of perks for the actor portraying the character. The sixty-year franchise has a global fanbase and is the fifth highest-grossing film franchise of all time. The legendary franchise is known to turn things around for the actors portraying the role.
Actors like Sean Connery and Daniel Craig have become global stars because of the franchise. Actor George Lazenby, who played the character, revealed that portraying the character gave him a lot of attention from women.
George Lazenby As James Bond
Six actors have played James Bond to date and they all have been propelled to global stardom due to their appearance in the franchise. Actor Sean Connery was the first actor to portray the role on film. Starting with 1962’s Dr. No, the actor portrayed the role six times, with his last official Eon Productions film being Diamonds Are Forever. His final appearance in the series was in Never Say Never Again.
Connery’s first replacement was actor George Lazenby, who played the role of Agent 007 in the film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Connery had reportedly grown tired of the role and wanted to depart from the franchise. Lazenby was a relatively unknown Australian model who was discovered by producer Albert R. Broccoli when they ran into each other at a barbershop.
After meeting Lazenby, Broccoli asked him to audition for the role of 007 and was subjected to multiple tests to examine his ability. It was Laznby’s first film role as he had only acted in commercials until then. Lazenby reportedly got the role after he accidentally punched a stuntman during the audition process. Director Peter R. Hunt defended his decision to cast Lazenby in an interview with Retrovision Magazine,
“Oh yes, he was very good. And I had a big job directing him, even though he seemed to think he wasn’t directed, and it was quite a job to make him Bond. But he took it and did it, and that’s the important thing. I’m not questioning how difficult it was, because that’s part of the director’s job… It was a difficult job, but the answer for me was that it worked, and it worked for the producers as well.”
George Lazenby is often considered to be one of the weakest Bonds in the franchise. He only starred in one film and immediately decided to exit the franchise after claiming that his ideas and suggestions were not being taken. Sean Connery was approached again to return to the franchise for Diamonds Are Forever and was reportedly paid a £1.25 million fee to return.
George Lazenby Confessed That He Was A Womanizer
While actor George Lazenby served as James Bond in only one film, he reportedly made the most of it. Talking about his experience as Bond and the fame he received after, Lazenby revealed that he was a womanizer and that he would attract a lot of attention from females. He said in an interview on the documentary Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of James Bond (via Daily Express),
“Suddenly I was James Bond and you can imagine what that did to me. I don’t want to brag but I had at least one girl a day. There was a tent on set where the stuntmen used to keep the mattresses they fell on in fight scenes. It was a good place to take a chick if you were in a hurry.”
The actor has also reportedly been accused of being sexist and homophobic when he told many stories of his sexual escapades during The Music of James Bond event that occurred in 2022. Lazenby was reportedly jeered off-stage due to his stories, with a member saying (via 6PR Perth),
“He spent all of the interview just talking basically about his sexual conquests, he was homophobic, he swore, he certainly wasn’t talking about his Bond movies, he downplayed the Queen, a day after she died.”
The James Bond actor later apologized for his remarks.
Source: Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of James Bond (via Daily Express), 6PR Perth, Retrovision Magazine
