10 Actors Who Perfected Roles YEARS Before The Movie
These actors were rearing to go when the cameras finally rolled.
So much more goes into a great movie performance than an actor simply knowing their lines and hitting their marks - they need a killer script to work with, like-minded co-stars, and a director who knows what they're doing.
And while there's an undeniable amount of effort and preparation that goes into even the most seemingly off-the-cuff performance, every so often an actor will go above and beyond, preparing for years before the cameras finally start rolling.
These 10 movies all saw actors give terrific performances, albeit ones which most audiences members likely won't appreciate were a long time in the making.
Whether a result of the actor being promised the role years in advance, the performer originating the role on the stage, or even winning the part because they'd already created this performance, these 10 actors all had these performances locked down many, many years before production began.
Though time can often make actors lose interest in projects as momentum dissipates, that clearly wasn't the case with this lot, who finally got to release years of pent-up creative energy and show audiences what they'd been holding onto all this time...
10. Pierce Brosnan Was Picked To Play James Bond Nine Years Earlier - GoldenEye
Pierce Brosnan didn't have the most spectacular run of James Bond movies all things considered, but to an entire generation of fans he is the quintessential 007. The movies weren't always good, but his charming-yet-reserved performance was absolutely beyond reproach.
Brosnan at least had a thoroughly persuasive coming-out party with his debut in 1995's GoldenEye, a film which lingered in development hell for six years due to various legal wranglings surrounding the property.
But Brosnan's casting was far from surprising, as the actor had originally been cast in the role almost an entire decade prior, and so had many, many years to hone his take on the character.
After NBC cancelled his hit crime series Remington Steele in 1986, Brosnan was formally offered the Bond role, but the surrounding publicity caused Remington Steele's ratings to skyrocket, resulting in the show's last-minute renewal and Brosnan therefore being prevented from boarding the 007 gig.
Eon Productions then forged ahead with Timothy Dalton for the next two Bond flicks, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, before the baton was passed back to Brosnan.
If you needed any further proof that Brosnan had the Bond role down pat years in advance, just check out the 1986 Diet Coke commercial he starred in mere weeks after NBC blocked him from joining the franchise, where he played an unnamed, suave, suited-up agent character.
Though certainly nodding in part to Remingston Steele, the distinctly James Bond-esque guitar solo that opens the advert assures it's also making light of Brosnan's missed opportunity.
More than this, it absolutely confirmed he was both a perfect fit for Bond and absolutely ready to get the job done whenever Eon came a-calling.