Movies - TV
Outlander Star Sam Heughan Explains Why He Lost James Bond To Daniel Craig
By JOE ROBERTS
When producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were searching for a new actor to take on the iconic role of James Bond in “Casino Royale,” they considered notable actors such as Sam Worthington and Henry Cavill. Sam Heughan was also in the running, and in his memoir, “Waypoints,” the then 25-year-old explained why a 37-year-old Daniel Craig was chosen over him.
Hailing from Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, Heughan would have been the first Scot to take on the role of Bond since Sean Connery in the franchise's early years. However, Heughan was told he wasn't “edgy enough,” and the actor struggled with that critique as he considered it to be a comment on his personality rather than his acting skills.
Being in his early 20s probably didn't help Heughan in terms of “edginess,” which is something that the actor came to learn in time. In the years since his audition, he wrote, “It wasn't a question of becoming a bad boy … The edge the Bond team sought could be achieved through self-confidence, which to be fair I was certainly lacking at the time.”