In 2006, Casino Royale kicked off a new era of James Bond movies that would last all the way through 2021's No Time To Die, when Daniel Craig would officially retire as 007. So far as we know, producers are no closer to casting a new James Bond; apparently there's internal trouble at the studios. While we wait for them to sort things out, the YouTube channel Ron South has posted a bunch of videos of now-famous actors who auditioned to play James Bond for Casino Royale way back when. They include heavy hitters like Avatar star Sam Worthington, The Boys breakout Antony Starr, and the internet's favorite hunky nerd Henry Cavill.
Let's look at Sam Worthington's audition first. All three of these guys audition with the same scene, from 1995's Goldeneye, which starred Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. In this scene, Bond is playing a flirty game of Baccarat with femme fatale Xenia Onatopp, played in the movie by Famke Janssen:
Of the three auditions here, I think Worthington's is the weakest, although it's not bad. He seems the most nervous, forgetting lines and failing to fully connect with his scene partner. And the energy seems a little too casual for Bond. Worthington apparently agrees, as he shared on the Fitzy and Wippa radio show in 2023. "I could get the killer of Bond down. I just couldn’t get the charm. I couldn’t charm her. The suit didn’t fit, man," said the Australian actor. "I tried to do a British accent. I did say to them I wanted to wear the white tuxedo like Roger Moore. I wanted to bring back kung fu chops, and they looked at me like I was crazy...It was awful. I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. I remember [Casino Royale director Martin Campbell] going, 'Just do your normal voice, it’s all cool, man.'"
Next up, here's Antony Starr doing his best 007:
Starr's audition is decent, although he's a bit twitchier than I expect out of Bond. Starr would go on find fame as sociopathic superhero Homelander on The Boys. The commenters are having a field day with that. "Breast milk, squeezed not pumped," someone joked on Reddit. If you know, you know.
Finally, here's Henry Cavill's audition:
Of this group, Cavill seems the calmest, steeliest and most smoldering. Basically, the most Bond, at least to me. You can also watch English actor Rupert Friend try out for the part. Potential James Bonds everywhere! And if you're interested, here's the original scene from Goldeneye they're all working with:
As for who will play the next James Bond, the mystery endures, hopefully not for much longer.
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