4. Sean Bean
Year Considered: 1987/1994
Reason He Didn't Get The Role: Cast In Another Role Instead "But... but... Sean Bean is actually in a Bond movie! He's the bad guy in
GoldenEye!" Those are the words that you're likely thinking at your computer screen at this very moment. And right you are, observant reader, but originally Sean Bean started out trying to nab himself the central role of James Bond, only to find himself considered and unconsidered in 1987, reconsidered in 1994, and then eventually cast as the villain in a Bond movie instead. Bean first caught the producers' eyes back in 1987, though they chose not to use him for anything and he went onto do other things. Then he returned in 1994 to re-audition for the role when Timothy Dalton hung up his tuxedo. Although they didn't see him as being quite right for Bond, the producers liked Bean so much that they cast him as Alec Trevelyan, another M16 agent who betrays Bond. Had he been cast as Bond, it would have marked that rare occassion when a Sean Bean character doesn't end up dead.