If you were born at some point in the last fifty years or so, you probably know who James Bond is. If that name is confusing you, where have you been, Kaspar Hauser? As one of the most iconic characters to have ever been created by anyone in the history of human existence, Bond has remained a permanent staple in popular culture ever since he first appeared in Ian Fleming's first novel, presumably because he taps into our inherent desire to jet off around the world and kill people on a whim. As an agent for the top secret MI6 branch in London, James Bond has been embodied by a whole host of incredibly famous actors across what is now considered to be a truly epic filmography. Be it Sean Connery or Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore, almost everyone has their favourite Bond - the beauty of the character, of course, is that he can be interpreted in lots of different ways. Well, to an extent, that is.
Which brings us to the actors I've assembled here, all of whom were nearly cast as James Bond and ended up declining or losing the role for varying reasons. To be fair, we're not quite sure that any of these chaps would have been good for the character, anyway - some of these choices were damn near insane. Still, it's hard not to be disappointed that a few of these actors didn't get a chance to stare into the gun barrel at one point and send a few quips our way...