James Brolin Reveals How First American Bond’s Accent Would Have Worked

Actor James Brolin opens up about almost being cast as the first American James Bond and reveals the unique accent the character would have had.

James Brolin Reveals How First American Bond’s Accent Would Have Worked

Actor James Brolin reveals what the world’s first American James Bond accent would have sounded like after he narrowly missed out on the role. First hitting the big screen back in 1963 with Dr. No, the James Bond franchise continues to entertain audiences around the world even now, 25 films later. The most recent film in the series, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time To Die, was a big hit with both audiences and critics, earning over $774 million at the box office. The film marked Daniel Craig’s last time playing 007 after his introduction into the franchise with 2006’s Casino Royale.

While the Bond franchise has undergone a lot of changes over the last 50 years, there are a number of elements that are widely seen as essential when it comes to a 007 movie. In every incarnation, the character of Bond is a British spy working for MI6, the British government’s intelligence agency. The character makes frequent use of an Aston Martin sports car and often wears well-tailored suits. James Bond’s high-tech gadgets are a beloved aspect of the character and it’s also customary for every 007 film to feature a “Bond girl,” a love interest for the titular super spy (although thankfully the franchise has evolved this trope in recent installments).

In a new interview with CinemaBlend to promote his latest film, Lightyear, Brolin reveals that he was very nearly cast as James Bond after Roger Moore’s contract ended with 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. Before Moore eventually decided to return to the role, Brolin was in talks with Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli to be the very first American actor to take on the character. The talks included deciding exactly what Bond’s accent would sound like. Check out Brolin’s full comment about Bond’s accent below:

“We had a discussion about the dialect, and I said, ‘Well, you know, like a New York stage actress, you know how they’re a little haughty?’ I said, ‘We’ll just be sort of [Midatlantic] with that. We won’t nail it down.’ And he said ‘That sounds good.’”

While the actors who have played James Bond have not always been British, (George Lazenby, for example, was Australian), 007 has himself always been British. The Midatlantic accent that Brolin describes is an accent traditionally associated with upper-class Americans and those in the entertainment industry and is generally considered to be a learned English accent, mixing characteristics of both American and British manners of speaking. Brolin’s Bond, then, wouldn’t just be a British Bond played by an American actor, but a version of the character who actually is American, but with British sensibilities, marking a major shift in the franchise.

With the future of the Bond franchise now very much up in the air after Craig’s emotional exit from the role in No Time To Die, it’s entirely possible that an American version of the character will once again be considered. While many consider British actors like Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, and Tom Hiddleston to be frontrunners for the role, Dwayne Johnson, an American, has also thrown his hat into the ring. It remains to be seen who the next James Bond will be, but Brolin’s story suggests that the franchise’s producers have always been open to casting outside the box for the role.