Watchmen Actor Matthew Goode Knows Exactly Why He Was Rejected For James Bond

As fans of the James Bond movies start to wonder whom director Denis Villeneuve might cast as his Bond, one star who missed out on the super spy role has talked about his experience. Matthew Goode, who's perhaps most widely known for his role as the superhero-turned-tyrant Ozymandias in Zack Snyder's "Watchmen," has revealed that he was once in the running for the role of 007. However, his vision for the character didn't seem to impress Barbara Broccoli, the then-head producer of the Bond movies.

To date, six actors have played James Bond in the official MGM Bond movies: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Craig bowed out as 007 in spectacular style in 2021's "No Time to Die," where, in spite of the movie's title, Bond proved there very much was time to die. Giving his life to destroy the deadly work of Rami Malek's Lyutsifer Safin, Craig's Bond was killed when the villain's island base was struck by missiles. This has left streaming giant Amazon with a clean slate for their first Bond film as it assumes creative control of the franchise.

Appearing on Josh Horowitz's "Happy, Sad, Confused" podcast to talk about his role on Netflix's British crime series "Dept. Q," Goode revealed he had once been in the running to play James Bond after Brosnan finished his run. However, the "Watchmen" actor also admitted he never quite got to the audition stage, explaining, "I went in and met Barbara [Broccoli]. I didn't get to the audition."

Recalling his meeting with Broccoli and why he believes he was passed over for the role of Bond, Goode continued:

"She was like, 'So, what's your idea for Bond?' And I was like, 'My idea for Bond. We've gotta take it back to the books, you know? Really, we absolutely have to make this guy an alcoholic, a drug addict. He hates himself, he hates women. He hates a lot of people. He's in deep pain. He's brilliant at killing people.'"

Goode admitted his vision for Bond was "really dark" and claimed that "I think by the end of the interview, [Broccoli] was like, 'Mhmm. Next.'" While Goode's Bond may have skewed a little too close to an R-rating for Broccoli's approval, his pitch wasn't actually that far from where the property wound up. As Goode recalled, Craig was cast as Bond not too long after his meeting with Broccoli, and the "Casino Royale" star's take on Agent 007 proved to be markedly darker than any of the previous cinematic iterations of the character.