Roger Moore’s Son Says His Father Was Almost James Bond Before Sean Connery Ever Got The Part

Sean Connery is the name most people think of first when they picture James Bond on screen, the actor who defined 007’s swagger across five films starting with ‘Dr. No’ in 1962. But according to Roger Moore’s own son, that casting outcome was never as clear cut as film history tends to remember it.

Moore, who would go on to play Bond seven times between 1973 and 1985, spent years being viewed as the actor who filled Connery’s shoes after the fact. His son Geoffrey has now pushed back on that framing directly, describing a very different version of how the role almost went to his father first.

Speaking with the Daily Mail, Geoffrey Moore said producers actually wanted Roger for Bond before Connery ever wore the tuxedo, but a standing contract with the British broadcaster ITC made that impossible at the time. He also said author Ian Fleming was a fan of Moore’s work on ‘The Saint’ and had personal ties to Bond producers Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the trio reportedly playing cards and sharing meals together outside of work.

That timeline has not gone unchallenged elsewhere. Retrospectives on the Bond casting process have noted that Fleming was known to favor established leading men like Cary Grant and David Niven for the role, and that Moore has previously downplayed his own closeness to Fleming, joking in past interviews that the author barely knew who he was and wanted bigger stars entirely.

What is not in dispute is that Moore did not step into the role until 1973’s ‘Live and Let Die,’ the eighth installment in the franchise and his first outing as 007. Guy Hamilton directed the film, with Broccoli and Saltzman introducing Moore to the press at a rooftop event at London’s Dorchester Hotel ahead of its release.

Geoffrey’s account suggests his father’s delayed entry into the franchise ended up working in his favor rather than against him, since it let Moore shape a version of Bond suited to a different decade. Where Connery’s take stayed close to Fleming’s tougher, more brooding source material, the scripts written for Moore leaned into a lighter touch, trading grit for charm and a sharper sense of humor.

That shift became something of a signature for Moore’s run, and it is part of why his seven films are still remembered as a distinct chapter of the series rather than an imitation of what came before. He held the role longer than any other actor in Bond history up to that point, finally stepping away after 1985’s ‘A View to a Kill.’

Geoffrey’s comments arrive as renewed interest in Bond’s screen history continues to circulate among longtime fans, particularly as speculation swirls about the franchise’s future under its new stewardship. Whether or not Roger Moore was ever truly first in line for the role back in 1962, his son’s retelling adds another layer to a casting story that has clearly never stopped being debated.

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