It has long been known that before Daniel Craig was cast as James Bond in “Casino Royale,” numerous other actors were up for the part at the time, with the three finalists rumored to be a young Henry Cavill, Sam Worthington and Craig.
Many others, however, were up for the role, some going far enough to meet the three key people involved – producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, along with casting director Debbie McWilliams. One of those people has turned out to be “Homeland” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi” actor Rupert Friend.
Like Cavill, Friend was around 23-24 years old at that point, with only a few credits to his name. Their consideration marked a change from prior films as each new Bond actor started their runs in their late 30s/early 40s. Craig himself was 37 when he was cast.
In a recent chat with Variety, Friend spoke about his experience and how originally the plan was for the character to be a much younger Bond than the one we got in ‘Royale’ and how he ended up turning down the role:
“When I was 22, and just out of acting college, I did three pictures back to back: ‘The Libertine,’ ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont’. And I was told, “We’d love to talk to you about playing James Bond, but rebooting the series. We want to do him basically straight out of college.”
And I met Barbara Broccoli and her brother Michael and Debbie McWilliams, the casting director for Bond. Obviously, I’ve watched them growing up and just love all the actors and all the movies.
Basically they said: you’ll do a screen test, and if it goes well, you’re signed up for three pictures which you won’t read, and you won’t know who the director is. You’re basically handcuffed to it.
And I suddenly was like, “I just feel at this point in my life and career, I’m too young, I don’t have the experience, I don’t have the acting chops, and I don’t have any of the hard knocks – emotionally, psychologically, physically – that a great Bond should have. So I’m gonna politely decline.
That was probably a bit of an eyebrow raise for them. To be honest, I’m grateful that I did. Because back then, not only could the part have sort of eclipsed me, I felt like the part was bigger than me as an actor or even as a person.
That it would sort of swallow me up, and I might sink the franchise, or at least be the worst Bond that ever lived. And that was just not an option because I love the franchise.
Broccoli has previously indicated they did look at younger 007s in the past, but the idea doesn’t work, and the character has to have been through some stuff before we first meet them. That’s partly why they’ve made it clear with the next Bond casting they’re looking at actors in and around their early-mid 30s.
Friend will be seen next month amongst the ensemble cast of Wes Anderson’s new film “Asteroid City”.
