Homelander Tried to Be Bond: ‘The Boys’ Star Antony Starr Opens Up About His Famously Bad 007 Audition Tape

Few actors working today carry the kind of cultural gravity that Antony Starr has built over the last several years. As the terrifying and disturbingly compelling Homelander in ‘The Boys’, the New Zealand actor has become one of the most talked-about performers on television.

But long before he was flying over skyscrapers in a cape, Starr was a far less established name doing what countless ambitious young actors do: throwing his hat into the ring for a role that felt impossibly out of reach.

Back in 2005, Starr was among a wave of actors screen-testing for the role of James Bond, likely in preparation for what would become ‘Casino Royale’, the 2006 film that marked Daniel Craig’s debut as 007.

Pierce Brosnan had already wrapped his run as the iconic spy, and the search for a new face was very much underway. Alongside other hopefuls like Henry Cavill, Rupert Friend, and Sam Worthington, Starr’s audition tape was part of a wide-reaching casting process that eventually landed on Craig.

The tape itself resurfaced in a big way earlier this year. A user named Ron South posted the nearly five-minute clip to YouTube, claiming he found the tape in the recycling bin of a movie studio, alongside another audition reel featuring Henry Cavill. From there, it spread fast across social media, drawing fans of ‘The Boys’ into a surreal alternate timeline where Homelander himself might once have said “Bond, James Bond” on the big screen.

Rather than cringe away from the attention, Starr leaned into it with characteristic self-awareness. Appearing on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast with Josh Horowitz, he talked about the failed audition openly, saying that at the time, it was the best he could do. His take on the whole experience was both honest and genuinely funny.

He described the situation as being like throwing a baitless hook into a very large pond, knowing you’re not going to catch the fish, adding that he had already seen the writing on the wall when Craig was getting the role.

He was equally candid about the quality of the read itself. Starr described the tape as one of the worst readings of “Bond, James Bond” you’ll ever see, calling it “a lot” and “a drag,” and reflecting that doing that kind of role is a young man’s game. He acknowledged that the tape was not his best work but that it was reflective of where he was at the time, and that the production was essentially casting a wide net globally, with Starr just being one of many actors swept up in the process.

Starr made clear on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast that he knew the role was well beyond his grasp at the time, comparing the attempt to throwing a baitless hook into a very large pond. He also acknowledged that even if some miracle had placed him in the role, he simply would not have been ready for it.

There is something genuinely fascinating about watching the tape now, knowing what Starr would eventually become. The same presence that makes Homelander so unsettling is visible in embryonic form, but polished it is not.

The “Bond, James Bond” moment that every actor reading for 007 must navigate came across as, by Starr’s own description, about as bad as it gets. And yet, that kind of humility is part of what makes the story so enjoyable. He is not embarrassed, not defensive, just honest about a moment in time when his skills had not yet caught up to his ambition.

The tape circulated widely earlier in the year, and once it did, Starr stepped forward to address it, calling the audition one of the worst ever while also noting that everyone has to start somewhere. Since that audition, Starr built his profile steadily through a range of projects before landing the role that would define his career as Homelander in ‘The Boys’ on Prime Video.

The contrast is almost poetic. The man who once stumbled through a spy audition in a forgettable early-career tape is now one of the most recognisable faces in prestige television. And with ‘The Boys’ heading into its final season, fans are about to say goodbye to the character who made Antony Starr a household name. Whatever comes next for him, it is safe to say the Bond conversation has well and truly passed. Though given how the internet reacted to this tape, nobody seems particularly upset about how things turned out.

Let us know in the comments whether you think Antony Starr could have pulled off James Bond, or if Homelander was always his true destiny.