10 Iconic Movie Characters Only ONE Actor Could Play
9. M - Judi Dench
The James Bond franchise has never really had any qualms with recasting characters. Hell, part of the appeal is that the central hero perseveres across decades via the magic of Hollywood casting agents.
That goes double for other characters as well, and villains especially have recently seen an uptick in new actors coming in to give their take on classic baddies. However, M, Bond's boss and MI6 head honcho, has also been a role swapped out to new actors playing successors to the throne.
Despite each version of M being a different in-universe character, this makes it even more impressive that the series went to such great lengths to not recast Judi Dench's version, who quickly came to overshadow the rest.
Dench's M was introduced in Goldeneye, and the actor's cold, no-nonsense takedown of 007 made her an instant fan favourite - so much so that when the series was rebooted with Casino Royale, the producers asked the actor to reprise her role in a move that could have destroyed the clean break they were striving for.
There have been Ms before and there'll be plenty after. but this version can never be replicated, and the series will probably never try.