Why Burt Reynolds Turned Down The Role Of James Bond

Burt Reynolds had many classic roles, from Bo "The Bandit" Darville in "Smokey and the Bandit" to Lewis Medlock in "Deliverance." Prior to both of those examples, however, the actor had a chance to take on what would have surely been the most well-known role of his career when he was offered the chance to lead the James Bond franchise. Why would he turn it down? Well, it was for the simple reason he felt the character had to be played by a Brit. Still, during multiple interviews in the years since, Reynolds said he felt "stupid" for saying "no" to Bond.

For as many great roles as he had, the late star also made a fair few missteps during his career. He had Clint Eastwood to blame for his worst Western, "Navajo Joe," wherein he portrayed the titular Navajo man in what was, at the very least, a dodgy bit of casting. Elsewhere, even Reynolds regretted his gangster movie flop, "City Heat," which also starred Eastwood. Come to think of it, I'm not sure the pair's friendship was all that helpful for Reynolds, who, while he remains a legend in his own right, ultimately failed to gain the same kind of respect as his peer.

Even with those blunders in mind, you could argue that Reynolds, who passed away in 2018, made his biggest mistake by turning down the role of James Bond. Not that playing England's greatest spy would have earned him the same kind of esteem as Eastwood, but it would have given him a major boost at a time before he'd fully broken through as a movie star.

There are plenty of actors who almost played James Bond, many of whom have become well-known for missing out on the role. Henry Cavill is one example, with the Brit's name never quite disappearing from casting conversations even after he lost out to Daniel Craig (though Cavill's Bond audition suggests he probably shouldn't have been cast). On the other hand, you don't hear all that much about Burt Reynolds letting Bond slip through his fingers, and if you asked the man himself why that might be, he would have said at it probably has to do with the fact he's a Yank.

At the start of the 1970s, Reynolds was still waiting for his breakout role. The 60s had seen him make a decent enough name for himself on TV, playing part-time deputy Marshal Quint Asper on "Gunsmoke" and starring as police lieutenant John Hawk in "Hawk." On the film side, he'd fronted the aforementioned "Navajo Joe" alongside a handful of other Westerns that were thankfully better than his attempt at portraying an indigenous American. But his breakthrough performance as Lewis Medlock in 1972's "Deliverance" was still a couple years away, which is to say that Reynolds really could have benefitted from fronting one of the biggest franchises in cinema at the time.

Unfortunately, he didn't feel he was up to the task simply due to his nationality, and while you might think that would have stopped him from taking on "Navajo Joe," Reynolds justified that one and several other indigenous roles by making a dubious claim about having Cherokee ancestry. Faking being a Brit, however, was apparently a step too far.

During an appearance on "Good Morning America" (via The Guardian) Burt Reynolds spoke about being offered Bond after Sean Connery stepped down following 1967's "You Only Live Twice." "I think I could have done it well," said Reynolds. "In my stupidity, I said, 'An American can't play James Bond, it has to be an Englishman — 'Bond, James Bond. Nah, I can't do it.' Oops. Yeah, I could have done it."

Could he? Legendary Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli certainly thought so. He offered the part to Reynolds outright, with the actor recalling in a 2007 interview how "Sean Connery had said he wanted more money and left" before Broccoli "came to visit me and said, 'We want you to play James Bond.'" In a separate 2018 interview with Deadline, the "Boogie Nights" star explained further his reason for turning down the producer, saying he "wasn't worried" about the accent which he thought he could do a "passable" job with. "I just felt that, at the time, I thought there might be a resistance from the public," he explained. "I don't know. What the hell was the matter with me? I should've done it."

Of course, Broccoli eventually found his next Bond in Australian actor George Lazenby, who lasted just one picture with 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." After that, Connery returned for one more turn in the tux before Roger Moore stepped up, ensuring Reynolds never did get a good go at the accent. Unlike Liam Neeson, who's glad he never played Bond however, Reynolds never seemed to get over turning down the opportunity.