Why Sean Connery was chosen as James Bond for Dr. No — and why he stubbornly refused to perform a screen test

Sean Connery was not the first choice to play James Bond. To be more accurate, he wasn't everyone's first choice to play the suave spy in Dr. No, the first movie in what would become cinema's most successful franchise.

Indeed, Bond author Ian Fleming wanted David Niven to play his creation. Ironically, Niven did indeed play Bond but in the 1967 spoof Casino Royale. Meanwhile, producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli liked the idea of Hollywood legend Cary Grant taking the part. After all, Grant was the best man at Broccoli's wedding. However, the actor only wanted to do one movie, which would leave Broccoli with the problem of having to recast the role after Dr. No. Grant also would have been 58, and so thankfully for lovers of Sean Connery, Grant turned down the role.

Another star firmly in the running was Danger Man's Patrick McGoohan. Amazingly McGoohan turned the role down for moral reasons. It's hard to imagine an actor today refusing a part on moral grounds, but Broccoli wrote in his autobiography that the actor couldn't square the part with his religious beliefs. While Terence Young, who directed Dr No., wanted Shakespearean actor Richard Johnson to play Bond.

But eventually, thoughts turned to a certain young Scottish actor...

Why Sean Connery was chosen as James Bond 

Broccoli spotted Sean Connery in the 1959 Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People. He was taken by Connery's performance, including in a big fight scene. So he asked his wife, Dana, whether she thought the actor had any sex appeal. She watched Connery and said he had plenty of sex appeal! And thus Connery was suddenly in the running.

The story goes that Connery was asked for an interview at the London offices of the producers. Connery chose to turn up in casual clothes rather than a suit and put on a confident act about how he'd like to play the part. He impressed the makers so much that he won the role, although not before he was asked to do a screen test. Something he stubbornly refused to do!

In a 1967 interview about Bond with F.Lee Bailey [who'd go on to defend O. J. Simpson!], Connery said: "In the final days, they said they wanted to do a test which I refused to do because I'd been acting for eight years up to then. Nothing like that on the worldwide scale but most certainly in Britain as an actor of stature from theatre, television and films."

What part did Sean Connery have in creating Bond's character in the movies?

In his 1967 interview, Connery said he'd only read two of Ian Fleming's books, "Dr. No" and "From Russia With Love". He believed the character needed more humor to work well.

Connery said: "I felt there was a lack of humor about them and I raised this point with Ian, who I became quite friendly with and admired tremendously. What I admired about Fleming more than anything else was his curiosity. He had a tremendous curiosity about everything.

"When I mentioned the business of humor, he was quite surprised because he felt he was quite humorous. He was as a man, humorous himself. But in writing the character of Bond, he wasn't. One of the first things one had to do was imbue a humorous aspect on a realistic basis. Therefore, one would get an upbeat ending to scenes and situations, therefore they [the audience] could acknowledge and accept the violence."

Connery said he came up with one of Bond's most famous quips. In Dr No., Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson) comes to dispatch Bond, firing bullets at the bed where he thinks he's asleep. Bond allows Dent to retrieve his weapon. Dent tries to shoot, but Bond dismissively tells him: "That's a Smith and Wesson, and you've had your six" before brutally shooting him dead.

Connery said: "You've had your six, and that was a line I dreamt up as I did in many instances in all the scripts. I had the most license with Terence Young, who directed the first two and the fourth. These sorts of quip lines."

Asked if he added these as they went along, Sean replied: "Yeah, we had to because lots of times in the screenplay they're impractical in scenes. They might read well and then when you're in the situation where the character’s involved in a fight or what have you in a scene, suddenly the dialogue doesn't fit anything or anything like how it's been conceived by the art director."

Did Ursula Andress and Sean Connery get on?

Yes. The pair first met in a dining room! They filmed the last scene of Dr. No first and became firm friends. Ursula said in an interview for the Dr No. DVD, recorded before Connery's death: "Sean is a marvelous person. I still see him, we're still good friends. He's stayed exactly the same person I met in 1962. Down to earth, simple, and real. He's a fabulous person and a marvelous actor."

How many James Bonds did Sean Connery make?

Sean Connery made seven James Bond movies. Six official Bonds with Eon Productions and then 1983’s unofficial Bond movie Never Say Never Again, based on Fleming's "Thunderball".

What is the order of the Sean Connery James Bond movies?

• Dr. No (1962)
• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Thunderball (1965)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)