Sean Connery Said This Actor Made a ‘Mistake’ While Playing James Bond

Sean Connery was the actor most associated with James Bond, however, many other actors took his place over the years. Connery said one such actor made “a mistake” when he took on the role. Interestingly, this actor’s version of Bond had a major connection to Connery’s version of Bond.

Why Sean Connery reveals why he did ‘less and less’ the more he played James Bond

Firstly, a little background. Connery was the first actor to play Bond on the silver screen. During an interview with IndieWire, Connery revealed the Bond films which were the most fun to make. These were Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. He liked From Russia With Love most of all. Connery said after the first two Bond films, playing the character was different. 

“Well, once you had done the first two, you just moved forward because the rules were established,” he revealed. “One wound up doing less and less as it were, because you did what you were expected to do and whatever else up to a point.” Connery’s comments echo critics of the Bond franchise who feel it’s too repetitive. “I think if anyone maybe Timothy [Dalton] made the mistake of thinking that it was going to be easier than it is. You have to work very hard to make something look easy. The movement, the fights, and whatever else are certain absurd situations.” Dalton played 007 in two 1980s films: The Living Daylights and License to Kill.

What Timothy Dalton said about Sean Connery’s James Bond

Likewise, Dalton told Entertainment Weekly what he thought of Connery and his 007 movies. “Connery was shocking,” he said. “And his movies were shocking. You had never seen women in bikinis in films in those days, and heroes did not shoot unarmed people. But Connery did, and he was tough. The fight in the train with Robert Shaw [in From Russia With Love] was one of the great Bond sequences.” Dalton said the 007 franchise became a lot more comic once Roger Moore took on the title role. 

Timothy Dalton’s legacy as 007

Dalton had no issue with Moore’s portrayal of 007. After all, Dalton noted, Moore really connected with audiences commercially. Despite Dalton’s admiration for Moore, he still wanted to return the franchise to its darker roots with his Bond films.

However, he felt it should have some humor. After all, humor has always been a hallmark of the 007 franchise even when Connery was making his relatively gritty Bond films. Despite Dalton’s efforts to return the series to its roots, he said audiences weren’t too keen on his Bond films.

Even if audiences weren’t too interested in those movies, Dalton was ahead of his time. When Daniel Craig took over the role of Bond in the 2000s, the series returned to the grittiness of the earlier entries. Connery felt Dalton made a mistake as 007, however, his take on the role anticipates Craig’s.