The role of Sean Connery donned the famous dinner suit, and left everyone shaken, and stirred in 1962's Dr No. Many great actors have played the iconic British spy, but there have also been numerous actors linked to the character over the years who have starred in identical roles.
The search for Daniel Craig's successor as James Bond has yet to be found, but a breakthrough in casting the next James Bond could be forthcoming. Landing the next Bond is absolutely key for Eon, and it's the toughest call they've had to make yet. Whoever the next Bond is, has to fit into a universe with massive built-in audience expectations, so the best route for any aspiring 007s is arguably to seek out roles that are identical to the suave spy.
10 Michael Caine As Harry Palmer
The Ipcress Files (1965) & Funeral In Berlin (1966)
Michael Caine would have been a great choice to play James Bond. The London-born actor has featured in many roles, especially his early ones, where he displayed the necessary qualities to embody 007. His natural charm would have gone a long way in convincing audiences he could be a great James Bond, although his broad Cockney accent would have needed some fine-tuning.
Michael Caine's 5-Movie Spy Series Was The Anti-James Bond We Needed, But Could Never Replicate 007's Success
The James Bond producers cast Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer in the hope of launching a separate spy franchise, but it didn't work out.
His role in 1966's Alfie showed he had a way with the ladies, but it's his role as the British spy, Harry Palmer, in both The Ipcress Files, and Funeral in Berlin, that were the perfect audition for Bond. He was considered for the part when Sean Connery quit the role after You Only Live Twice in 1967. However, according to The Express, Caine saw himself as "much more ordinary" than 007, and was worried about being typecast as a spy.
9 Rupert Friend As Peter Quinn
Homeland (2011-2020)
Cambridge-born actor Rupert Friend has shown over the years that he could be a very strong contender to take on 007. The English actor has had an eclectic career, so far, and he's proven his action star status with movies such as 2015's Hitman, and Outlaw from 2007. However, it's one of his roles on the small screen that is more like James Bond than any other. Peter Quinn from Homeland.
Friend is one of the best parts of the show, and his CIA agent has many attributes that Bond has; he's a ruthless assassin, he has the correct physique, and has a certain debonair quality.
The series focuses on a bipolar CIA operative, played by Claire Danes, and Quinn is a CIA paramilitary officer who takes charge of a team to observe a congressman accused of attempted murder. Friend is one of the best parts of the show, and his CIA agent has many attributes that Bond has; he's a ruthless assassin, he has the correct physique, and has a certain debonair quality. Friend once turned down the chance to audition for the role, and Homeland, which only had one good season, proves he shouldn't have.
8 Cary Grant As Roger Thornhill
North By Northwest (1959)
Another great actor from a more classic era who was touted to play Bond, and actually played a similar role, is Cary Grant. He had been the best man at Albert R. Broccoli's wedding, and was a huge fan of Ian Flemings' books about James Bond. However, there was one role, in which he's mistaken as a spy, that is very similar to that of 007.
It's been suggested that Alfred Hitchcock made the first Bond movie three years before Dr. No was released in 1962. Cary Grant plays an advertising executive on the run after a group of international spies mistake him as a government agent. There are many Bond-esque moments; Grant has a tryst with a mysterious woman, he fights the film's villain on Mount Rushmore, and the movie has great action set pieces such as the crop-duster chase.
7 Taron Egerton As Eggsy
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
One name that has been mentioned several times to replace Daniel Craig as Bond, is Kingsman: The Secret Service star, Taron Egerton. The Kingsman movies are a great homage to the British spy genre, albeit with more humor, and violence thrown in for good measure. Egerton has many qualities he would bring to the role, but he's already distanced himself from it.
Speaking to Total Film per Gamesradar, Egerton said "I just don't think I'm the right person for that", which is fair enough. However, his role in the Kingsman movies is very similar to the world of James Bond. He could handle the action, he has tons of charisma, plus he has great chemistry with the female characters in the movies. He's perhaps not statuesque enough to take on 007, but Kingsman proves he'd fit the role perfectly otherwise.
6 Tom Hiddleston As Jonathan Pine
The Night Manager (2016-2025)
There's one thing you can definitely say about Tom Hiddleston, which has been proven by Loki; he looks great in a suit. Which is one of the prerequisites for playing James Bond, of course. It also helps that you've played the lead role in a very popular spy series for the studio that now part-owns the distribution rights to the Bond series, Amazon.
The Night Manager has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's not exactly clear what Amazon's purchase of studio MGM means for James Bond's future, as the role is yet to be recast, but Tom Hiddleston has been repeatedly linked with the role. His character in The Night Manager has a lot of the traits he would need; he can easily handle action, and he has suave, charismatic good looks. He's a great actor, and The Night Manager showed he could play a role almost as identical to Bond.
5 Richard Madden As Mason Cane
Citadel (2023-Present)
Richard Madden is no stranger to huge franchises, and his name has been circulating around the role of James Bond for a while now. Game of Thrones proved that he could handle large action set-pieces with ease, as did the more fantastical Marvel universe he was also an integral part of recently. Madden earned a Golden Globe for his role as a PTSD suffering protection officer in the well-received series, Bodyguard, which has shades of Bond about it.
However, it's another role he's taken on that is almost identical to James Bond; Mason Kane in Citadel, on Amazon Prime. Madden may have a weird American accent in the show, but the series is suitably action-packed. Also, his character has great chemistry with Priyanka Chopra Jonas' agent, Nadia Sinh, proving it's a role very similar to James Bond.
4 Sean Bean As Alec Trevelyan
GoldenEye (1995)
Sean Bean's career has been littered with great roles; especially his noble yet tragic take on Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He also tends to die in most of his movies, and he has a great death scene that he recalls being a unique challenge in the Bond movie, Goldeneye. The star, from Sheffield, England, is therefore no stranger to the Bond franchise.
Bean had actually auditioned to play the part of James Bond in 1994 before it ultimately went to the hugely charismatic Pierce Brosnan. However, the studio was so impressed by Bean's audition, that they cast him as the villain in GoldenEye, Alec Trevelyan. The character is like an identical, villainous take on Bond, and Bean plays MI6 agent 006 with great menace. Although he plays an antagonist in the movie, the character is almost identical to James Bond in many ways.
3 Clive Owen As Ray Koval
Duplicity (2009)
Clive Owen is another great English actor who has often been linked to the role of Bond, but never quite managed to land it. Ever since he hit screens in the British TV show Chancer from 1990, he's played a series of roles that suggested he would be the perfect Bond. The most notable movie being Tony Gilroy's Duplicity from 2009.
All 3 James Bond Remakes, Ranked Worst To Best
Three of the James Bond movies were remakes of previous Bond films, and these remakes include some of the best and worst of 007's adventures.
Owen turned down James Bond before Daniel Craig took on the suave spy, because he couldn't reach an agreement with the studio over the gross profit points he would make in future movies. He even mocked 007 in his action movie, Shoot 'Em Up, in 2007. However, Duplicity, in which Clive Owen plays Ray Koval, an ex-MI-6 agent, is the closest role to Bond he has ever played, and showed that he had great chemistry with co-star Julia Roberts plus the action beats to take on 007.
2 Idris Elba As John Luther
Luther (2010-2019)
Ever since Daniel Craig left the role of James Bond, Idris Elba has been continuously linked with the role. He's good-looking, has great range, and has proven to have the physicality needed to take on the part. He's been touted by industry insiders for the role, and his part as John Luther in the TV series Luther, and the Netflix Movie, is almost like a stepping stone to Bond.
Luther's movie ending may have prevented Elba from being cast as Bond, but the series has all the basic elements that link it to the world of Bond. It's set in London, it has gritty action that Bond is now synonymous with, plus Elba's Luther would be the perfect candidate for 007, if he ever wanted to step away from the Metropolitan Police. However, despite being the people's choice for the role, Elba has closed the door on becoming the next 007, but Luther proved he could have handled it easily.
1 Henry Cavill As Gus March-Phillips
The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
Another English actor who has been repeatedly linked to the role of James Bond, is Henry Cavill. The actor may have stepped away from one large franchise, The Witcher, but he has all the attributes required to play 007. Also, his role as Gus March-Phillipps in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was a career first for Cavill, and is also linked to Bond.
Cavill has played characters in other spy movies, such as Mission Impossible: Fallout, but it's his turn as Gus March-Phillipps that is linked the most to Bond.
As mentioned towards the end of the movie, Gus March-Phillipps was one of the main inspirations for James Bond. His rebellious nature, and ice-cool attitude are the perfect match for 007, and the movie may have also suggested that the codename, 007, could have come from Gus' W01 codename. Cavill has played characters in other spy movies, such as Mission Impossible: Fallout, but it's his turn as Gus March-Phillipps that is linked the most to Bond.
Source: The Express, Total Film, The New York Times
