10 Shocking Reasons Actors Quit Movies
9. His Agent Told Him To - George Lazenby (Diamonds Are Forever)
George Lazenby had the unenviable task of following up Sean Connery's iconic tenure as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and as a non-British actor known primarily for his commercial work, his casting ruffled a lot of feathers among the passionate Bond fandom.
Though Eon Productions offered Lazenby a seven-film deal and fully expected him to return for sequel Diamonds Are Forever, Lazenby shocked the world when he announced mid-production that he would only play Bond for a single movie.
The reason for this? Lazenby's agent, Ronan O'Rahilly, convinced the actor that 007 would seem like an archaic relic in the 1970s, and so he quit the next Bond film while pursing other acting projects instead.
Lazenby's co-stars Diana Rigg and Desmond Llewelyn felt that he made a mistake by quitting, and his sudden exit didn't aid his public perception as a "lesser" Bond.
All the same, general esteem for On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Lazenby's performance have grown somewhat over the decades, even if few would rank him among their favourite actors to ever don the tuxedo.