James Bond was nearly played by another iconic actor before Roger Moore stepped back in

Beloved actor Roger Moore played the role of James Bond more than any other thespian. But the iconic performer very nearly cut his secret agent acting career short, and it was offered to another titan of acting. According to Hello Magazine, James Brolin has now revealed how he was almost actor number eight in the franchise. Brolin was reportedly in talks to take over the role from Roger in 1983 after Moore had decided he didn't want to work on any further Bond movies.

James Bond bosses approached Brolin to take on the role for the film Octopussy. Speaking to People, James, who will turn 85 on July 18, said that the offer came at a time when the industry didn't know "what to do" with him. Brolin had just achieved great success in the high-grossing independent movie, The Amityville Horror.

Brolin revealed: "I got offered [the first] Superman and turned it down because I couldn't see myself being hung up on wires in a big red sock. It just wasn't the direction I wanted to go," adding that he then realized he 'really liked character acting'.

James, who is the father of fellow actor Josh Brolin, went on to star in numerous award-winning classics. These included 2000s Traffic, and Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2002. He was also the voice of Emperor Zurg in the Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear.

Moore starred in a total of seven James Bond films and was 56 when he starred in Octopussy. His seven appearances as 007 were: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).

After starring in his last Bond film, Moore took a break from acting for five years. He made a number of acting appearances in the cinema and on the small screen before starring alongside Cuba Gooding Jr as a flamboyant gay man in the 2002 film, Boat Trip.

One of his best known roles outside of the Bond franchise was as Seymour Goldfarb in the 1981 movie, The Cannonball Run. The appearance was seen as a parody of both himself and James Bond, which saw him drive in an Aston Martin DB5.

James Brolin married Barbra Streisand in 1998. Barbra revealed in 2024 that a comment James made about their romance inspired songwriter Diane Warren to write the song I Don't Want to Miss a Thing for the film Armageddon.

James was also previously married to wildlife activist and aspiring actress Jane Cameron Agee, who was actor Josh's mother. They married in 1962, 12 days after they met and divorced in 1984.