Ian Fleming made it clear he had no interest in casting Sean Connery for the first adaptation of James Bond.
Though Connery would go on to portray 007 in seven James Bond adaptations, he received an initially lukewarm response from the Casino Royale author. Fleming would live to see the release of just two James Bond films, dying a month before Goldfinger hit screens across the United Kingdom. In that time, though, Connery did more than enough to win over the author behind From Russia, with Love, and Dr. No. Connery would make his on-screen debut as the beloved character in the latter title, though it was an apparent uphill struggle for the unproven leading man to leave his mark. Connery’s height and background were problems for Fleming, though he did warm to the star over time.
He enjoyed Connery’s portrayal of Bond so much, in fact, that he wrote it into canon that the character’s parents were from Glencoe, in the Scottish Highlands. This detail featured in You Only Live Twice, which was released in 1964, the year of Fleming’s death. But he was initially unconvinced by Connery, calling the recognisable star an “overgrown stuntman.”
He said: “He’s not what I envisioned of James Bond looks. I’m looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stuntman.” Despite this putdown of Connery, Fleming was won over by the Scottish actor, who would portray Bond on and off from 1962 to 1983.
Fans of the James Bond series believe Fleming’s distaste for Connery stems not from any personal issue with The Untouchables star, but a desire to cast an actor like David Niven in the role. Fans took to the r/TodayILearned subreddit and shared their thoughts on how the films would have fared with Niven in the leading role.
Niven would eventually feature in a Casino Royale adaptation, with a Woody Allen and Orson Welles-featuring spin-off a chance for The Pink Panther star to shine. One movie fan wrote: “Just looked up David Niven. He looks like if the phrase ‘Jolly good!’ somehow became a person. Thank God for whoever cast Connery.”
Another added: “David Niven was Fleming’s generation’s ideal style of spy – the witty, insightful, gentlemanly type that never had to get his hands dirty or get in a real scrap because he would always be one step ahead of any bad guy.
“So smart that he never had to show you how tough he was (or wasn’t). In the 40s and early 50s, he was probably the perfect archetype for those audiences, but I think the 60s and 70s just needed a more physically capable style.”
A third James Bond fan added: “I can understand the appeal to Fleming. James Bond was basically Fleming writing fan fiction about his own and others’ experiences as intelligence officers. He created a character that was everything they wanted to be, while the actual work of espionage is typically very dull and not all glamorous.”
