Timothy Dalton 'didn't want to replace Sir Sean Connery'
Timothy Dalton has explained why he initially rejected the chance to play James Bond.
Timothy Dalton rejected the chance to replace Sir Sean Connery as James Bond.
The 78-year-old actor played the iconic character in 'The Living Daylights' in 1987 and 'Licence to Kill' in 1989 - but Timothy has revealed that he actually rejected an opportunity to play Bond earlier in his career.
The movie star explained to Vanity Fair: "There was a time when Sean Connery was leaving and - I can’t say I was offered it, but I was asked if I’d like to do it or not. And I said no, because it seemed to me that the age of 24 or 25 doesn’t seem quite right for this character."
Timothy believes that the coveted role is suited to an older, more established actor.
He said: "You could play it at that younger age, but I don’t know that I’d believe it that much."
Timothy also admitted that he felt daunted by the prospect of replacing Connery, who starred in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.
Asked if he found it easy to reject the opportunity, the actor replied: "It was easy enough.
"You don’t want to follow Sean Connery, who was truly, truly magnificent - and who I had been watching in the role since I was 13 or 14. No, don’t do that."
Timothy insists he never chased the role of Bond. However, he also recognised that it was a unique career opportunity for him.
He reflected: "I was doing 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'Antony and Cleopatra' at the Haymarket Theatre in the West End of London. I wasn’t chasing it.
"I remember being in a hotel room thinking, 'What the f*** am I going to do about this?' And then I thought, 'Well, it’s a once in a lifetime, isn’t it?'
"Does good sense say, 'Go and do something else,' or does good sense say, 'Take a once-in-a-lifetime and then go and do something else?' So you go and do it."
Timothy's Bond has often been compared to Daniel Craig's approach to the character.
And the veteran actor has now admitted that he tried to adopt a unique, distinctive approach to Bond.
He said: "You’re confronted by a lot of problems. You’re taking over from someone. You don’t copy them. So that’s dangerous. And one of the things you have to remember is almost every person in the world who’s ever seen a Bond movie has a point of view about the Bond movies. It’s astonishing."
Asked if he's generally happy with his Bond movies, Timothy replied: "Some of it works very well. I like a lot of it."
