(Credit: Alamy)
Sun 26 October 2025 18:22, UK
Depending on when certain audience members were born, there will only be one James Bond, and for those who were around for 007’s first arrival on the screen with 1962’s Dr. No, Mr. Bond will always be associated with Sean Connery, the man who played the famous double agent on seven occasions, including From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball.
But with Connery being the first ever Bond, he’s been well placed to evaluate those who came after him. Following his effort in You Only Live Twice, George Lazenby made a solitary appearance in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service before Connery returned again with Diamonds Are Forever.
Connery’s role as Bond defined his entire career and, arguably, helped to define the generation that grew up watching him. Bond is a character who has sustained throughout the decades partly because of Connery’s portrayal. He was imposing, charming, brutish and violent; he commanded respect and delivered his lines with a smirking presence.
His first film opened up the gates of the world to James Bond, but as he curtain came down on his career as Her Majesty’s Secret Weapon, he had to pass the baton on to another actor.
At that point, the Scottish actor handed over the reins to Roger Moore, who’d star in seven feature films between 1973 and 1985, including his first, Live and Let Die, plus The Man with the Golden Gun and Moonraker. Connery once spoke of the difference in his portrayal of Bond compared to Moore’s, pointing out their varying approaches.
“I played Bond with the reality, credibility, and hopefully still encompassing stance and effect and what have you, and out of it some indigenous humour,” Connery said. “And anything that happens is possible. I feel that Roger – which I think he may have inherited in part from after Diamonds Are Forever, where they were already getting into that area of too much hardware – that that was more important.”
Connery struggled giving away the role, and clearly did not enjoy Moore’s performances, and how much they had diverged from the Bond he had created. “His is a sort of parody of the character, as it were, so you would go for the laugh or the humour at whatever the cost of the credibility or the reality,” Connery continued to note of Moore’s efforts. “I think that’s basically the difference. I think he took another direction with it that way and acquired an entirely different audience.”
Clearly, there is a sense in Connery that he’s the proper Bond, the one who played the iconic secret spy with a seriousness that seemed to depart once he handed the baton over to Moore. There’s always been a sense of tongue-in-cheek humour to 007, but Connery felt that it became over-amplified when Moore donned the suit and loaded his pistol.
Still, when Moore died, Connery offered his respects for the actor, highlighting the point that he held him in high regard as a person, even if he felt that he’d turned James Bond into more a comic character, telling The Scotsman, “I was very sad to hear of Roger’s passing, we had an unusually long relationship by Hollywood standards, that was filled with jokes and laughter. I will miss him.”
Related Topics