Roger Moore returned to James Bond series after a ‘nice deal’ was struck for A View to a Kill

James Bond star Roger Moore would have left room for a younger actor had he not struck a “nice deal” for A View to a Kill.

While the Ian Fleming character has been passed through the hands of capable, serious actors like Sean Connery and Daniel Craig, Moore brought a lighter charm to the series. Despite this and his consistency in the role of James Bond, he felt it was time to quit the series when his co-star’s mother remembered watching him on television as a child. Writing in his book, My Word Is My Bond, Moore suggested it was during A View to a Kill that he knew he was too old for the role. Fans hailed Moore’s reason for stepping aside as Bond and introducing audiences to his successor, Timothy Dalton. Though Dalton would only last two films, it seemed to be the right time for Moore to hang up portraying the secret agent.

Moore would say: “Well, the leading ladies were young enough to be my granddaughter, and it becomes disgusting.” Bond’s love interest in A View to a Kill was Stacey Sutton, played by Tanya Roberts, who was thirty-five at the time. Moore was fifty-seven at the time of making A View to a Kill.

Later, he would say he felt too old to be “hanging around women in their early twenties without it appearing creepy” and that Roberts’ mother remembered watching him on television as a child. Fans were left agreeing with Moore, with some suggesting he was “too old” for the series by Octopussy.

Some suggested A View to a Kill was the perfect time for a “younger actor to take the role of Bond,” though that would come in 1987 with Dalton in The Living Daylights. A post to the r/JamesBond subreddit reads: “He was clearly too old for the part if he wasn’t already in the previous two films.

“I don’t think he particularly needed the money at that point. There was no compelling reason for EON to bring him back other than just playing it safe.  I mean, going up against an Übermensch in Max Zorin would have been an opportune moment to have a younger actor take the role of Bond.”

Fans have their theories on why Moore would return to the series. One person wrote: “Money, I’d imagine. If I felt physically up for it, I probably wouldn’t turn down another payday doing something I enjoy. The better question is why EON didn’t consider recasting more strongly after Octopussy stood its ground against NSNA.”

Another added: “Octopussy was a hit, and I think he genuinely enjoyed making those films. Apparently, almost everyone loved working with him as well.” A third shared: “Glen & Moore’s idea was to make Bond’s age a theme in the film, similar to Never Say Never Again.

“Cubby was resistant to pinning down Bond’s age, and nixed it as being an overt element of the plot (comes through in the subtext, though). He also ignored Moore’s request for older leading ladies.”

1983’s Never Say Never Again would see Sean Connery return to the series, albeit not in an EON production, over a decade after he had last portrayed Bond, in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever.

Moore would himself share why he returned to the series for A View to a Kill. Writing in his book, he confirmed: “At fifty-seven, I felt a little long in the tooth… but I was pretty fit and still able to remember lines. A rather nice deal was agreed with my agent, and once again I slipped into the tuxedo…”