Actors considered to play Bond throughout the years

-Cary Grant- Was offered the role at the beginning for Dr. No and was offered three movies but wanted to do one due to his age.
-James Mason - Like grant he was offered three movies but wanted to do two
-Patrick McGoohan - Was offered the role for Dr. No, but turned it down as he felt the role was too promiscuous. Was said to have been considered again for "Live and Let Die".
-Richard Burton - Felt that the role was a new untested concept
-Richard Johnson - Was the director's first choice for Dr. No but he already had a contract with MGM and did not want another.
-Richard Todd - Was one of Ian Fleming's choices for the role but was unavailable
-David Niven and Rex Harrison - Lost the role in favour of Sean Connery
-Stanley Baker - Did not want to commit to a three picture deal
-Michael Caine - was offered for OHMSS, but declined because he didn't want to be typecast
-Dick Van Dyke - His cockney accent resulted him in being ruled out.
-Terence Stamp - His ideas for future films were "too radical" for Harry Saltzmann. But he would have been an interesting Bond
-Oliver Reed - The producers didn't not want to spend money on his public image
-Jeremy Brett - Felt the role would harm his career. Was considered again for LALD
-John Gavin - Was cast in DAF but Sean Connery returned. Was considered again for LALD
-Clint Eastwood, Adam West, Burt Reynolds - All turned down the role in the 70s as they thought that Bond should be British.
-Michael Gambon - Felt that he wasn't right for the part
-Jon Finch - Was offered the role but did not want it
-Michael Billington - Was almost cast in LALD, but was considered again for Moonraker, FYEO and Octopussy in the 70s and 80s
-David Warbeck - Auditioned for LALD, lost to Roger Moore, but was said to been a "reserve-Bond" for FYEO in case Moore did not return.
-Lewis Collins - Auditioned for the role for FYEO but was considered "too agressive", but he would have been a great Bond
-Ian Oglivy - Was considered for both FYEO and Octopussy in case Moore didn't return
-Michael Jayston - Was considered in case Moore didn't return for FYEO
-Timothy Dalton - Was offered the role for both OHMSS and LALD, but felt too young, but was offered the role again for FYEO and Octopussy before accepting the part in "The Living Daylights".
-James Brolin - Auditioned for the role in "Octopussy" and won the role but Roger Moore returned
-Sam Neill - Auditioned for the role in '86 but Cubby Brocolli wasn't sold on the actor
-Pierce Brosnan - Won the role in '86 but had to pull out to scheduling conflicts, would eventually play the the from 1995 to 2002
-Christopher Lambert -French accent prevented him from getting the part
-Mel Gibson - Was rejected because he wasn't British and was too short
-Liam Neeson - Turned down the role for "Goldeneye"
-Sean Bean - Was the 2nd choice in case Timothy Dalton didn't return for Goldeneye, lost the role to Brosnan and played the villain instead. Bean as Bond would be a thumbs up
-Ralph Fiennes - Auditioned but lost to Brosnan, would go on to play M from 2012 to 2021
-James Purefoy - auditioned for both Goldeneye and Casino Royale, like that choice
-Dougray Scott - Was considered at one point after DAD, could have done it but was said to have been too old as they wanted someone a little younger
-Henry Cavill - Came close to winning the role but was rejected for being too young.
-Christian Bale - Turned down the role as he stated that he had already played serial killer. He would have been great, maybe a bit too versatile.
-Ewan McGregor - Turned down the role as he did not want to be typecast. Him into role would be thumbs up though.
-Sam Worthington - Was a finalist for the role before Craig. I could see him in the role, he's an underrated actor, he could pull it off but not my first choice.
-Antony Starr, Julian McMahon, Rupert Friend, Alex O'Loughlin all auditioned for the role in 2005
-Goran Visijinc - Auditioned for the role but he was unable to master an English accent