It can be hard being stuck in the middle. For Timothy Dalton, his time as James Bond in the late 1980s is often overlooked. While Dalton only starred in a double feature as 007 for the big screen, the producers and the actor himself both had visions for so much more. After all, Dalton had been in the secret agents' cross-hairs since the swinging ’60s. Dalton had been up for the role of Bond for so long that his quick departure was especially surprising. Things could have ended very differently for both Dalton and the next James Bond star, Pierce Brosnan.
Timothy Dalton caught the eye of Executive Producer Albert R Broccoli a decade before his first turn as 007. While appearing in a documentary about the making of his first Bond film, The Living Daylights, Dalton says he was first approached for the role for 1971’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, said Dalton “Mr. Broccoli very kindly asked me if I’d be interested.” But he said no because he felt he was about a decade too young to play Bond. So, George Lazenby stepped in for his one-and-done. But producers circled back around again about a decade later. However, Dalton still wasn’t ready to jump on board.
When Sir Roger Moore retired the role, producers again cast their net, zeroing in on a handful of potential new bonds, with Dalton, Brosnan and Sam Neill (whose screen test is fun to see) topping the list. It was Dalton who was eventually chosen, but his commitment to the shooting schedule of another movie, Brenda Starr, meant he couldn’t meet the production schedule. So, producers moved on and kept looking. It was then they decided on Brosnan. But as pre-production was underway, Brosnan was suddenly roped back into doing 5 more episodes of the tv show Remmington Steele at the last minute. Broccoli wasn’t willing to wait. “The schedule on this Bond film was delayed, and it was delayed to the point where I became available and I was asked again and I was very, very pleased,” said Dalton.
One of the reasons Dalton wanted to do the character all along was to bring a more grounded approach to Bond, “I wanted to make him human. He’s not a superman, you can’t identify with a superman.” He adds in the documentary, “I wanted to capture the occasional sense of vulnerability and I wanted to capture the spirit of Ian Fleming.” While some fans were divided with this new darker approach to the role, you can easily see how his portrayal was the precursor to Daniel Craig's interpretation of the character.
The Living Daylights and License to Kill were both profitable, had fantastic title-track earworms courtesy of A-Ha and Gladys Knight and left producers more than happy and committed to keeping Dalton on. In fact, his third Bond film was already set to go when everything came crashing down.
As the 1990s got underway things were looking good for Bond. Speaking to The Week, Dalton said, “We had the script. They were interviewing directors. We were really rolling forward, ready to start. It was actually quite a good story, I thought". But MGM Studios and EON Productions became embroiled in a lengthy legal battle. The delay left Dalton free from his contract and producers started looking for a new Bond. But after leaving the role and taking on other roles in the years since License came out, Dalton reconsidered leaving the role behind.
Dalton told The Week that Broccoli had hoped he would once again be his man, saying he “asked if I would come back, and I said, 'Well, I've actually changed my mind a little bit. I think that I'd love to do one.” But for a big Hollywood Icon, restarting the Bond-production machine for a lone offering, according to Dalton, didn’t meet Broccoli’s expectations, “You can't do one. There's no way, after a five-year gap between movies that you can come back and just do one. You'd have to plan on four or five.' And I thought, oh, no, that would be the rest of my life. Too much.” And with that, Dalton was done, and Pierce Brosnan finally had the stars to align for 1995’s GoldenEye.
Being one of the six actors to play 007 on-screen, it is easy for Dalton to get lost in the shuffle, especially when bookended by the likes of two British Knights and a pair of Hollywood heartthrobs. However, his brief but transformative time inhabiting the character was a clear indication of where James Bond was heading. While he couldn’t finish the job he started and left before his time, he did a lot to shake up the series and bring a new direction to cinema’s most popular secret agent.
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