10 Actors Who Rightly Turned Down Iconic Roles

There’s been plenty of talk about who the next James Bond might be, but in another reality, it wouldn’t be Daniel Craig they’d be replacing, but Hugh Jackman.

The Australian actor was approached about playing the super suave spy, and would have been the first non-Brit to play Bond had he accepted. Clint Eastwood was once in the running too in his Dirty Harry days, although that fell through as well.

Daniel Craig, despite being frequently scathing about the role of Bond, has been key to the character’s renaissance. Bond has been rebooted for the 21st Century with a much grittier aesthetic, and as interesting as Jackman’s Bond might have been, it’s probably best not to tinker with the formula.

Jackman turned down Bond as he felt it would limit his options, as he didn’t want to feel boxed in. That’s a fair enough reason on the face of it, considering Jackman has an eclectic filmography including Les Miserables, Chappie, Happy Feet, The Greatest Showman, The Fountain and Eddie The Eagle (and many more besides), plus a plethora of stage work.

However, considering he’s done all that while being universally known as Wolverine, James Bond might not have been as restrictive as he feared.