James Bond is one of the most popular and highly sought-after roles, since the franchise was created. The role of 007 has been portrayed by numerous actors over the years, including Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and more. Knives Out star Daniel Craig is presently playing the role of James Bond. However, Harry Potter fame Ralph Fiennes was once offered the prestigious role.
The Menu actor shared about losing the role of James Bond to Pierce Brosnan and revealed his thoughts on the casting.
Ralph Fiennes reveals being offered the lead in James Bond
Harry Potter series fame Ralph Fiennes was once briefly considered for the role of 007, but the conversation never panned out. The actor shared in an interview with The Telegraph,
“There was a conversation that was great and a meeting with Cubby Broccoli, that was terrific.’ I think that’s all I can say, except that it didn’t lead to anything on both sides. I don’t think I felt ready to commit and I think they were looking at Pierce.”
Fiennes added Brosnan was the perfect choice for the role. He said,
“I think I would’ve been a terrible Bond, actually. I think I’m happier playing M. And I think Daniel Craig is a brilliant Bond.”
Pierce Brosnan played the role of an internally famous super spy from 1995 to 2002. However, the actor could have played the role earlier but was rejected. The actor shared in an interview with The Guardian that he was offered the role when he was doing a TV series, Remington Steele. However, the deal fell through, as he could not get out of his show.
Ralph Fiennes fought with Sam Mendes for his M character
Ralph Fiennes may have not wanted to play the role of James Bond but, he was keenly interested in the role of M. The actor was seen working side by side with Daniel Craig’s James Bond from the movie Skyfall. Fiennes shared that the director has different ideas for M in the sequels, which created disagreements between him and Sam Mendes.
Fiennes shared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast,
“I think I can say now that I had to fight off an attempt by Sam in Spectre to make M – I said, ‘I don’t want to play M and then you turn around and make him the bad guy. M is never the bad guy,’ So I had to have some pretty intense discussions with Sam saying, ‘This is not flying with me.’ … It was like he was Blofeld or something, but that was a red line.”
Fiennes has played the character of Gareth Mallory or M in Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die.
Source- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
