Let's be honest. Everyone has "their" Bond. Usually, it's just the guy who was wearing the tuxedo when you were ten years old and first saw a car turn into a submarine or a villain get sucked out of an airplane window. But when you look at the actual list of the actors who played James Bond, it’s a weirdly short list for a franchise that has been running since the Kennedy administration. Only six men have officially held the "License to Kill" in the Eon Productions canon.
Six. That's it.
We aren't counting the radio plays or that weird 1967 Casino Royale satire where David Niven ran around with a bunch of other people all pretending to be Bond. We're talking about the heavy hitters. The guys who defined masculinity—for better or worse—for over sixty years.
Sean Connery: The Roughneck in a Tailored Suit
The story goes that Ian Fleming wasn't sold on Connery at first. He thought the Scottish bodybuilder was a bit too "unrefined" to play his sophisticated naval commander. He wanted someone like Cary Grant. But Connery brought something the books didn't have: a genuine sense of physical danger. When you watch Dr. No (1962), Connery doesn't just look like he belongs in a casino; he looks like he could break the dealer's arm if the deck was stacked.
He did six official films, plus the "unofficial" Never Say Never Again in 1983. His run was the blueprint. Everything we associate with the character—the "Martini, shaken, not stirred," the Walther PPK, the cold-bloodedness—started here. Honestly, if Connery hadn't been as charismatic as he was, the franchise probably would have died in the mid-sixties. He made it cool to be a government assassin.
But he got bored. By You Only Live Twice, you can see it in his eyes. He was tired of the wig, tired of the press, and tired of being James Bond. He quit, came back for Diamonds Are Forever for a record-breaking paycheck (which he donated to charity), and then finally walked away.
George Lazenby: The One-Hit Wonder Who Might’ve Been the Best
Then there’s George. Poor George. A flat-out model with zero acting experience who somehow talked his way into the biggest role in the world. 1969’s On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a weird entry. For decades, people mocked Lazenby for not being Connery. He’s a bit stiff, sure. But the movie itself? It’s arguably one of the best directed in the series.
🔗 Read more: Shamea Morton and the Real Housewives of Atlanta: What Really Happened to Her Peach
Lazenby’s Bond is vulnerable. He actually falls in love. He gets married. And then, in one of the most devastating endings in cinema history, his wife Tracy is murdered by Blofeld. Lazenby cries. A Bond who cries? In 1969, audiences hated it. Now, fans look back and realize he was decades ahead of his time. He turned down a seven-movie contract because his agent thought the hippie movement would make Bond obsolete. Talk about a bad career move.
Roger Moore: The Eyebrow and the Gadgets
If Connery was a panther, Roger Moore was a house cat who knew how to use a laser watch. When Moore took over in Live and Let Die (1973), he didn't try to copy Connery. He knew he couldn't. Instead, he leaned into the camp. He leaned into the humor.
Moore’s Bond survived the seventies and early eighties by becoming a sort of superhero. He went to space in Moonraker. He jumped a car over a river in The Man with the Golden Gun. He was the longest-serving Bond in terms of consecutive films, staying for seven movies until he was 57 years old. By the time A View to a Kill rolled around in 1985, he was visibly older than the mothers of some of his "Bond Girls." It was getting a bit awkward. But he kept the franchise alive during a time when it could have easily faded into a joke. He was the fun Bond. The one you could watch with your grandma.
Timothy Dalton: The Shakespearean Sniper
After the slapstick of the Moore era, the producers wanted to go back to the books. Enter Timothy Dalton. If you read Fleming’s novels, Dalton is the closest representation of that character. He’s moody, he’s angry, and he clearly hates his job.
The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989) were "gritty" before gritty was a marketing buzzword. In Licence to Kill, Bond goes rogue to avenge his friend Felix Leiter. It’s violent. It’s dark. People weren't ready for it. They wanted the jokes. They wanted the invisible cars. Dalton only got two movies before legal battles between the studio and the production company mothballed the series for six years. By the time they were ready to film again, Dalton’s contract was up, and he moved on.
Pierce Brosnan: The Nineties Icon
Brosnan was supposed to be Bond in 1986, but his contract for the TV show Remington Steele got in the way. When he finally landed GoldenEye in 1995, he felt like a "Greatest Hits" version of the character. He had Connery’s coolness, Moore’s wit, and Dalton’s physicality.
💡 You might also like: Who is Really in the Enola Holmes 2 Cast? A Look at the Faces Behind the Mystery
For a whole generation, Brosnan is the Bond, largely thanks to the Nintendo 64 game. His movies—Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and the admittedly ridiculous Die Another Day—made massive amounts of money. He brought Bond into the post-Cold War era. But the scripts eventually let him down. He deserved better than surfing on a CGI wave in the Arctic.
Daniel Craig: The Modern Rebirth
When Craig was announced, the tabloids lost their minds. "James Blonde." They said he was too short. They said he looked like a villain. Then Casino Royale (2006) came out and shut everyone up within the first five minutes.
Craig’s run was different. For the first time, we had a continuous story arc across five movies. We saw him start as a "blunt instrument" and end as a weary veteran in No Time to Die. He brought the physicality back to a level we hadn't seen since the early sixties. He bled. He hurt. He actually looked like a guy who got hit by cars for a living.
The Unofficial Bonds and the "What Ifs"
While the list of the actors who played James Bond usually stops at six, we have to mention the outliers. Barry Nelson played "Jimmy Bond" in a 1954 TV adaptation of Casino Royale. He was American. It was weird. Then there’s David Niven, who I mentioned earlier. He played an aging Sir James Bond in the 1967 spoof.
And then there are the guys who almost had it. Henry Cavill famously lost out to Daniel Craig because he was too young at the time. Sam Neill did a screen test. Even Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds were approached at different points, but they both turned it down, wisely realizing that an American playing 007 would be a disaster.
Why the Order Matters
The evolution of Bond mirrors the evolution of what we expect from men.
📖 Related: Priyanka Chopra Latest Movies: Why Her 2026 Slate Is Riskier Than You Think
- Connery was the post-war ideal of the dominant male.
- Moore was the polished, jet-set playboy of the disco era.
- Dalton was the cynical, professional soldier of the late Cold War.
- Brosnan was the sleek, corporate hero of the nineties.
- Craig was the traumatized, deep-feeling protagonist of the 21st century.
What’s Next for the Franchise?
As of early 2026, the seat is still empty. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (the keepers of the Bond flame) haven't officially named the seventh actor. The rumors are everywhere—Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the name that won't go away, but nothing is set in stone.
They’re looking for someone who can commit to a decade or more. They aren't just looking for an actor; they’re looking for a person who can define a new era of masculinity. It’s a tall order.
Actionable Takeaways for Bond Fans
If you want to truly appreciate the lineage of the list of the actors who played James Bond, don't just watch the hits. Do this instead:
- Watch "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" with an open mind. Ignore Lazenby’s wooden delivery in some scenes and look at the cinematography. It’s a masterpiece.
- Read one Ian Fleming novel. Start with Moonraker or From Russia with Love. You’ll realize that the literary Bond is much darker and more miserable than almost any of the movies portray.
- Compare "The Living Daylights" to "Casino Royale". You will see exactly where Daniel Craig’s "gritty" Bond actually started.
- Track the tech. Watch how the gadgets go from simple hidden microphones to invisible cars, and then back to just a radio and a gun in the Craig era. It tells you everything about the cultural anxiety of the time.
The next actor to join this list has a lot of history to carry. Whether they go back to the humor of Moore or double down on the realism of Craig remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the tuxedo always finds a way to fit.
Expert Insight: The "Bond Curse" is a real phenomenon in the industry. Once an actor plays 007, it becomes incredibly difficult for audiences to see them as anyone else. This is why many established A-list stars shy away from the role, and why the producers often look for "up-and-coming" talent rather than household names. Dealing with the shadow of Sean Connery is part of the job description.
Reality Check: While fan theories about "James Bond" being a codename passed from person to person are popular online, the movies themselves don't really support this. References to Bond's parents (the Craigs) and his deceased wife Tracy (Moore and Dalton eras) suggest he is intended to be the same man, just living in a "floating timeline."