After Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig took over the role of 007. But it was almost someone else that played Bond: Worthington. Sam Worthington. Sam Worthington is now reflecting on his embarrassing audition for James Bond back in the mid-2000s.
Sam Worthington confirmed his dreadful James Bond audition on the Australian radio show Fitzy and Wippa (as per ComicBook.com). “I did go for Bond. I went and did the audition with Martin Campbell, who ended up directing Casino Royale.” But mimicking Bond and being Bond are two entirely different things. “You walk in, there’s the girl in the bed, you charm her. 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.” Worthington previously spoke of his attempt at the character, saying he could handle the killer but not the confidence or suaveness.
Sam Worthington also detailed his precise approach to nailing the proper James Bond tone, noting that he actively tried to avoid the bad omen of being an Aussie. After all, the only other Aussie to play 007 was George Lazenby, who infamously had a one-off in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. “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.” Admitting his shortcomings, Worthington said, “It was awful…I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins,” referring to one of the most notoriously awful accents in movie history.
Perhaps a mo-cap suit is a better fit than a Tom Ford one, as Sam Worthington is doing just fine, with Avatar: The Way of Water around the $2 billion worldwide gross mark and well on its way to cracking the top 10 all-time domestic.
In the meantime, the hunt for the next 007 continues, although Aaron Taylor-Johnson may be the frontrunner. His fans just have to hope he can nail the charm for producers.
What do you think? Would Sam Worthington have made a convincing James Bond? Or would he have gone the way of George Lazenby? Let us know below!