Sam Neill

Before starring in the ‘Jurassic Park’ series, Sam Neill was in the running to play James Bond before Timothy Dalton took on the character with 1987’s ‘The Living Daylights’.

Even so, Neill emphasised he would have turned the role down if he was offered it, as he never wanted to portray the secret agent anyway.

He said: “First of all, I wouldn’t have taken the role if they’d asked me to do it.

“It was the last time that I was bullied into doing a screen test. My agent insisted that I go and do it, [saying] it would be rude otherwise. So reluctantly, I went out to Pinewood [Studios] and did this silly thing for a part I never wanted to do.”