James bond is Iconic and many actors played agent 007 but, you know how many actors played James Bond? Who they are? We will answer it here. Agent 007 is one of the most recognizable movie characters, is smart, is handsome and the role has been changing over the years to actors who could fit this.
Until now eight different actors played the part, all English, and every one of them with an incredible career in the movie industry. From Barry Nelson to Daniel Craig, James Bond might have changed his face over many years but the main theme of the movies is the same and many of them are cult classics.
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The classic era: Sean Connery
Firstly we must do a disclaimer; Sean Connery wasn’t the first James Bond but is the one that is frequently credited as the original so that’s why we start with him. Sean Connery is probably the most Iconic James Bond of all times followed by Pierce Brosnan – more about him later, patience – and he did some of the most famous classics about this agent.
Dr. No (1962)
This isn’t the first apparition of James Bond in media but was the first on the big screen. This was the movie that started it all and is a cult classic. Here we can see what would be the staples of the following movies: The booze as part of the movie, something that is part of James Bond, how he gets the most attractive girl in the room, and the duple of the hero and the Arch Villain.
Sean Connery later did: From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), and lastly he did Diamonds Are Forever (1970). Every single one of these movies is a cult classic and loved by all the fans.
The briefest: George Lazenby
This agent 007 lasted just one movie, never came back for the role, and isn’t very famous. Connery announced that he was leaving the role and George took it but only for one film because his agent thought that the franchise wouldn’t survive and he rejected a seven-film deal. The movie wasn’t really good and maybe he regrets the deal but is still a James Bond movie.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Maybe one of the least liked by the fans, is one of the movies that are a little bit darker but has everything you could expect on a James Bond movie. On the other hand, the cast is great, Telly Savalas played the villain and Diana Riggs played the Bond girl.
The next recognizable Mr. Bond: Roger Moore
This was the start of more fun, loosely Bond. Roger took the mantle and changed the character for the better, giving a twist to the movies in the meantime. He played the part for seven movies, was the first English, and some of his films were better than others but he starred a lot of classics and changed the tone of the movies, making them more over the top.
Live and Let Die (1973)
Many remember this movie because it was weird and different, very different from any of the other movies before. We don’t want to spoil the movie so we only need to mention that the villain is two at the same time and Jane Seymour played one of the most memorable bond girls of all time.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Now in its third decade, this movie is an Iconic Roger Moore Bond film, becoming one of the classics with this actor. Here the movie takes what Roger did to the character and owns it in the lines and the scenes. It’s full of good ideas, has more humour, and has more over-the-top moments.
The new era: Timothy Dalton
This is another of the Bonds that fans don’t like a lot, and that’s partially because Pierce Brosnan was cast first but he couldn’t take the role just yet. Timothy again made agent 007 a more edgy, angrier spy, giving us another though the version on screen. Fans didn’t like a lot this bond and he only lasted two movies.
Licence To Kill (1989)
As the most famous movie and the last of this bond, we need to mention it. This movie explores a more violent Bond, which was good considering the way Dalton did the role. Overall this movie is more violent and is the last to have this darker approach because Brosnan changed a lot the character.
The favorite: Pierce Brosnan
Everyone loved this version of James Bond and many fans think this is one of the best Bonds of all time. Brosnan was made for the role; he represented everything Bond was, charming, handsome, a playboy, and a spy. On the other hand, the cast on the movies grew bigger- on fame – and stars like Judi Dench and Sean Bean were iconic villains.
Goldeneye (1995)
Probably this is one of the biggest movies of the franchise, is so famous this one even has a game that is a cult classic too. This movie was a huge hit and everybody wanted more of the agent 007 Pierce Brosnan did.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Even though is more famous because of the cast, this is one of the greatest movies of James Bond and a classic too. Here, the villain is played by Jonathan Pryce and the bond girl is played by Teri Hatcher, great actors at that time.
The World is not Enough (1999)
This is the most played James Bond movie ever and is very popular, and one of the favourites even though the plot is weak and there are better movies. The best of this movie is its villain, played by Robert Carlyle, a superstar.
Die Another Day (2002)
As the last film done by Pierce Brosnan as Bond, is one of the favourites in all of the franchise, especially for the actress who played the bond girl this time. Also, in this film, we saw one of the most famous James Bond scenes on the big screen, the one where Honey Rider recreates the scene where Dr No walks out of the ocean in a bikini.
The new era: Daniel Craig
As the new Bond, this is probably the one agent 007 you know. Daniel Craig is the newest Bond and he renewed the franchise starring the first mayor reboot. With him, the timeline rebooted and the critics loved it, however, this Bond is very different from the one played by Brosnan, is more closely resemble the one on the books, and is more of a killer than a playboy.
Casino Royale (2006)
In this film the whole franchise is rebooted, James Bond is a newbie and he just got his license to kill. The cast includes Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright doing iconic roles as M and Feliz Leiter respectively. Fans loved this Bond, and the twist Daniel gave to him, making him grittier and real.
Skyfall (2012)
Being the best movie of this generation of the whole franchise, we need to talk a little bit deeper about Skyfall and how is incredible to watch. Here Javier Badem plays a younger Q, according to the reboot, and finally, we have one of the most emotional moments of the entire franchise and we won’t spoil it for you.
Spectre (2015)
Even though this isn’t the best movie, this one has the reboot of SPECTRE and this means, we get to see the classic villains of the Bond universe. Christoph Waltz played the part and everyone lost their minds over such a perfect cast.
After a couple of months, the production of No Time To Die continued after a hiatus due to Covid-19 and we can expect this to be the last Daniel Craig’s Bond. In this movie, Rami Malek will be the villain and the cast includes stars as Ana de Armas, David Dencik, and Lashana Lynch; and you can know more about it here.
Honorable mentions
We could mention more movies here but these are the ones that we thought are the best from the Daniel Craig Bond. Being close to the end of the list, we should mention some of the honourable bonds that played the role one time out of the universe.
Barry Nelson
Barry was the true first Bond, and we don’t know this because he played the role just once and Sean Connery became, of course, much popular. He played the spy for a television series called Climax!, based on the novel Casino Royale. He did the agent 007 for a couple of episodes more, but the story was later picked for the big screen and his depiction was buried.
David Niven
Casino Royale was adapted to the big screen before 2006, but it wasn’t such a hit as the reboot. In the 1960s David Niven acted in the adaptation of the novel Casino Royale and was one of the less popular agents 007. This movie is more of a parody, yes, but is a Bond movie in the end.
If you read all of this, you like movies, so we recommend you this movie list we made for you.
