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Why was Timothy Dalton asked to play Bond in 1969?

posted 6 years ago by TMC-4 (19408)
4 replies | jump to latest

Timothy Dalton was initially asked to play Bond when Sean Connery left the first time. But he turned Cubby Broccoli and EON down because being that he was in his early 20s at the time, he felt that he was too young and inexperienced to appropriately play the role. I wonder if they pursued Dalton because they knew that they had a diamond in the rough or they in essence, wanted an actor that they could in theory "control" (especially in light to all of the problems that they had with Connery towards the end). This may or may not have happened with George Lazenby as he was offered a seven picture deal (if I'm not mistaken) but he had immediately had a fallen out with the producers after On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

[–] rcrxjlb (130) 5 years ago

He was probably chosen over Lazenby cause he had acting experience and Lazenby did not.
Lazenby was a salesman and model, but had acted only in commercials and one Bond movie spoof...

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Someone should make a movie based on Lazenby in the late sixties. It would make a great comedy.

[–] kwestmo (4114) 5 years ago

See "Becoming Bond" if you haven't

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It might be that his age was a factor in being chosen. Maybe they wanted someone who could possibly play the role for 20+ years.