Resurfaced footage shows Henry Cavill's 'tremendous' James Bond audition as director explains why he didn’t get role
Footage of Henry Cavill's 'tremendous' audition for James Bond has been doing its rounds again, 20 years after he missed out on the role.
Oh, how the films would have changed had we not been given Daniel Craig instead.
While I’m not sure whether it would have been a franchise-defining change, it probably would have been noticeably different from Craig’s 007 persona.
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However, you may not have known that Cavill was one of the favourites to play the titular character.
Cavill could have replaced Craig, now 56, as 007 and altered the image of Bond for an entire generation of fans.
In a resurfaced clip from 2005, you can see the Superman actor deliver some of the character’s most famous lines, as a fresh-faced 22-year-old.
Dressed in a leather jacket with long-ish hair, he said, 'Bond, James Bond', and ordered a 'vodka martini, shaken not stirred'.
However, no matter how great the audition was, it wasn’t to be. Have a look:
Instead, Craig went on to play James Bond in five films before he left the franchise in 2021. But that doesn’t mean that Cavill didn’t leave an impression.
Casino Royale director Martin Campbell told The Express that Cavill was nearly cast as Bond, but his age was an issue.
He said: "He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous. And look, if Daniel didn't exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond. He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape… very handsome, very chiselled.
"He just looked a little young at that time back then."
But now the role for the next 007 is up for grabs - with many thinking James Norton may be next in line - he said that 41-year-old Cavill might be too old to play Bond.
"Henry's 40, so by the time he's done the third one he's going to be 50 and anything beyond that's two, three years per Bond," he said. "He's in good shape, Henry, he's a good guy. He did very well in the audition, but ironically he was too young."
Little did he know that he was one of the last two people in the 2005 auditions, and he found out that fact while appearing on SiriusXM's The Spotlight With Jessica Shaw.
Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn said how he spoke to Craig about it, and he revealed that Cavill was a top contender.
This was when Vaughn realised that Cavill was someone special, and ended up featuring him in his 2007 flick Stardust, where he played a very pompous Humphrey.
He said: "It was really bizarre because when Henry was auditioning for Bond, I was at Pinewood [Studios] and Daniel [Craig] was as well, right? At the same time, and I'd go off and meet with Daniel and he'd say what's going on.
"He said, 'There's this young guy, Henry Cavill, who I think they're seeing as well'."
In the end, the producer decided to go with Craig, and Cavill went on to do his own thing. But maybe in the future, if there was to be a film about Bond after his retirement from being a spy, he could reprise the role instead?
Also, if he had been Bond, he may not have been Sherlock Holmes or even Superman, so maybe we should be thankful!
Topics: Henry Cavill, Daniel Craig, James Bond, Film, Celebrity
Britt Jones