A Woman, Ian Fleming on Sean Connery and More

Lashana Lynch became the first woman to own the 007 title in the 2021 James Bond tentpole “No Time to Die,” but it turns out a plan to make James Bond a woman was actually pitched over 60 years prior. In Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, titled “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man,” it’s confirmed that producer Gregory Ratoff floated the idea of casting Susan Hayward in a film adaptation of Fleming’s first Bond novel “Casino Royale.”

Shakespeare writes in the biography (via IndieWire): “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached [to play Bond]. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward. Ian had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly anglicise his accent’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).”

Hayward was a five-time Oscar nominee for best actress and won the prize for 1958’s “I Want to Live!” She earned nominations for 1947’s “Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman,” 1949’s “My Foolish Heart,” 1952’s “With a Song in My Heart,” and 1955’s “I’ll Cry Tomorrow,” the latter of which won her best actress honors at the Cannes Film Festival. She also starred in the infamous “Valley of the Dolls.”

Legendary screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. spoke to Variety back in 2012 and claimed at the time that Ratoff was interested in Hayward because “frankly, we thought [Bond] was kind of unbelievable and as I recall, even kind of stupid. So Gregory thought the solution was to make Bond a woman, ‘Jane Bond’ if you will.”

The idea was apparently never a serious consideration for Fleming, who ultimately wanted to make Richard Burton the first on-screen James Bond. Burton declined. Shakespeare’s book reveals Peter Finch, Cary Grant, Dirk Bogarde, Trevor Howard, Rex Harrison, Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore (who did end up playing Bond later) and Richard Johnson were all considered for 007 as well.

“We tried twenty or thirty. No major actor would play the part for more than one picture, and we couldn’t set up a deal with a distributor without commitment from a main actor,” Fleming’s film agent Robert Fenn told the author for the book.

The first James Bond movie to actually get off the ground was 1962’s “Dr. No,” which included the iconic casting of Sean Connery as James Bond. However, Fleming was “shocked” when he met Connery in real life for the first time “because [Connery] couldn’t speak the Queen’s English.”

“Fleming said, ‘He’s not my idea of Bond at all, I just want an elegant man, not this roughneck,’” Fenn remembered.

Connery’s casting would make him a film icon. He’d reprise the role of Bond in five more 007 movies: “From Russia With Love,” “Goldfinger,” “Thunderball,” “You Only Live Twice” and “Diamonds Are Forever.”

“Sean Connery was the right guy in the movie for the right time,” longtime Bond producer Michael G. Wilson says in the book. “If it hadn’t been Sean, who knows? Would it have captured the attention of the whole world?”

“It was the sheer self-confidence he exuded,” adds producer Barbara Broccoli about Connery. “He walked like the most arrogant son-of-a-gun, you’ve ever seen – as if he owned every bit of Jermyn Street from Regent Street to St James. ‘That’s our Bond,’ I said.”

There’s currently no James Bond on the big screen following Daniel Craig’s exit after “No Time to Die.” Reports have surfaced in recent weeks claiming that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is being cast as the next 007 on the big screen, although Eon Productions have not yet confirmed. Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond in four movies, recently gave Taylor-Johnson his blessing.

“I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so,” Brosnan said of Taylor-Johnson during an interview on “The Ray D’Arcy Show,” adding: “I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow.”

Shakespeare’s biography “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man” publishes April 9.