Though he will be remembered by many as Tywin Lannister on the HBO series Game of Thrones, British actor Charles Dance came close to nabbing the coveted role of fictional spy James Bond.
The 73-year-old star recently revealed how he turned down an opportunity to audition for the role of 007, saying that he would have f**ked it up.
Dance said that he was approached by producers of the James Bond franchise in the mid-1980s after Roger Moore’s departure from the role. He was advised by his agent to turn it down.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he stated:
“My agent at the time rang me — it was a hot July day — and she said, ‘It’s happened, darling.’ And I said, ‘What’s happened?’ She said, ‘You’ve been asked to test for Bond.’
I said, ‘Really?’ She said, ‘I urge you not to do it.’ I said, ‘Why is that?’ She said, ‘One, well, think how you’ll feel if you don’t get it, and, two, I think it will limit your career.’”
Dance added that he believed his agent may have been protecting him at the time.
“I had not nearly enough experience for something like that, and I would have f***ed it up … if I’d got the part. It’s a big thing.”
Sam Neill and future Bond actor Pierce Brosnan both auditioned for the 007 role after Moore’s departure, and Timothy Dalton eventually got the part, playing the character in two films; The Living Daylights (1987) and License to Kill (1989).
Despite the fact that Dance turned down the chance to play the role, he would end up portraying James Bond creator Ian Fleming in a 1989 television biopic. He had previously played the role of a henchman in the Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981).
