Who’ll play the next James Bond? That question has plagued fans in the five years since the franchise’s bosses confirmed “the search for the next James Bond” had begun.

Favourites so far have included Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, and more recently, Heartstopper actor Jack Barton.

Meanwhile, Sir Idris Elba, who’s long been touted as a great 007 option, said speculation about his casting was “just a rumour”.

But what about the actors who really were offered the part and turned it down?

Here are 11 performers who allegedly said “no” the iconic role:

In an interview with IndieWire, Les Mis star Hugh Jackman said he rejected a part in 2006’s Casino Royale due to other engagements.

He said of the offer: “I had a look at it… I was like, ‘If I’m doing that and Wolverine, I’ll have no time to do anything else.’”

He’s also shared: “I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond. I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real…

“People wanted me to play that kind of hero part exclusively. It felt a little bit claustrophobic.”

Cleopatra actor Richard Burton was reportedly one of the first people that the author of the Bond books, Ian Fleming, looked to cast for the first film, Dr No.

According to the actor’s great-nephew, Guy Masterson, “My uncle told me that Ian Fleming had approached him, asking him to play Bond.

“But, back then, in 1959, Bond was a new concept, and nobody had any idea it would be as big as it became. My uncle told me that he thought it was going to be just another movie.

“No matter how big Bond became, he never said he regretted missing out on the role. Had Burton played Bond, I think he would have been absolutely fantastic.”

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2010, the four-time Academy Award winner said he was “offered pretty good money to do James Bond if I would take on the role. This was after Sean Connery left.

“My lawyer represented [then-007 producers] the Broccolis, and he came and said, ‘They would love to have you.’ But to me, well, that was somebody else’s gig. That’s Sean’s deal. It didn’t feel right for me to be doing it”.

Source: Read the original article on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk