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1. EON sought out Dalton following Moore's retirement from the role, but he was busy with another project.
2. EON sought out Pierce Brosnan as their #2 pick. He graciously accepts.
3. NBC renews Remington Steele; Pierce is dropped by EON.
4. Dalton's schedule has now freed up; EON secures him as the next 007.
It's debatable also of his being returned to when the role opened up in the following years. There seem to be so many varying accounts. I'd defer to author Charles Helfenstein who wrote the definitive making-of books on OHMSS and TLD. More believable is Cubby supposedly meeting Brosnan during FYEO where his wife was playing Countess Lisl and keeping him in mind as a possible future Bond.
I've always suspected the 'first choice' thing was a bit of a company line, much like the 'he didn't want to come back for B17' one.
I think the story is that Timothy heard of an audition back in 68, but it wasn’t specified what the role was, not anything about a film director, producers, anything, just another casting call. Once Dalton found out that the audition was for Bond, he decided not to go, believing himself way too young, at least that’s Helfenstein portrays it.
I don't buy that he wouldn't have done it- he was doing Charlie's Angels and the like.
They did test him, and it s available as extra material.
Those Brolin screentests are fascinating, you could tell he was going for a Roger Moore type persona with his Bond (if he ever was to be cast)
I'd assumed it was Cubby who asked Dalton, from John Glen's quote where he said that in 1986 he put Dalton's name forward by saying to Cubby 'What about Timothy Dalton? You did talk to him once about it and he wasn't interested when he was much younger.' But yes, so much myth-making goes on, who knows for sure at this point? Interesting to ponder the might-have-beens, though, no?
I'm only aware of Dalton being tested in 86 or so?
The Sam Neil screentest is also available as extra material.
Edit: Sorry, I must have misunderstood you. You were talking about Dalton screentesting in 83, @mtm? Or rather 82.
Yes, sorry; reading it back it wasn't very clear. I was thinking that if they were testing people for Octopussy I wonder whether they tested Dalton then, and if not why not. Brosnan seemed to not quite be fully on their radar then.
Good point, of all the people in the business, I can t believe Brolin was the best. Not even close.
Thought he was good in Marcus Welby M.D., excellent in Capricorn One & Westworld.... never saw him as a Bond sort....
Just looking at the Pushkin scene I cannot imagine Moore’s Bond being so utterly ruthless. EON never specified which scenes were tailored to Dalton, but i think it’s easy to see where they did the tweaking.
I think Moore did the cold blooded aspects great in FYEO, but yeah, he’d never come across as that cold blooded without some kind of comic relief to ease the tension
- Richard Johnson (under contract to MGM, didn't want to be further locked into a contract with Bond)
- Richard Burton (felt that Bond might tarnish his image. And that, right there, might just be the best joke of all time)
- Cary Grant (would commit to one film, and one film only)
- Rod Taylor (felt the role would be beneath him. A pint of regret for Mr Taylor)
- Patrick McGoohan (felt that Bond wasn't something he'd want his children to see)
And those are just the ones I can think up on the spot. Connery might not even have been within the first 10 names offered the role, but still a lot of people believe that Connery is #1.
But TLD was never written for Moore; I suspect if Brosnan had played Bond as planned that scene wouldn't have changed at all.
We sure have! Just imagine him and Diana together :x =((
I don’t think Bond fans care that Dalton was or wasn’t the first choice. But American audiences certainly held the sentiment that Brosnan was robbed and Dalton was placeholder. The American media seemed to hold that sentiment.
When Dalton was announced as Bond, People magazine ran this cover article about Brosnan getting screwed over. Dalton’s agent tried to arrange an interview with the magazine but they declined.
Then theres this infamous bit from an interview with a US journalist where he kept pressing on about Pierce Brosnan when Cubby was trying to promote Dalton.
I absolutely LOVE Cubby's facial expression throughout this interview.
I would have lost all interest in Bond movies, if that happened!
Yeh, and of course we all go to see Bond movies for the comedy!
A great many people see the humour as part of the Bond package, so yes.
It wouldnt be the top reason for many, certainly not for me!
Absolutely, yeah. It's part of the whole thing.