Pierce Brosnan's time as James Bond came to an end after 2002's Die Another Day, and heading into the mid-2000s, there was a huge amount of excitement surrounding who would be the next 007.
Daniel Craig's casting came as a surprise (and led to a lot of "James Blonde" headlines), but over the course of five movies, he proved himself more than worthy of playing Ian Fleming's iconic spy. Similar to what's happening now, franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson spent two years searching for a new Bond, and Avatar: The Way of Water star Sam Worthington was among those considered.
Unfortunately for the Australian actor, his audition didn't go well.
"I did go for Bond. I went and did the audition with Martin Campbell, who ended up directing Casino Royale," Worthington revealed during an interview on the Fitzy & Whipper radio show (via ActioNewz.com). "You walk in, there's the girl in the bed, you charm her. I could get the killer of Bond down. I just couldn't get the charm. I couldn't charm her. The suit didn't fit, man."
Quizzed on whether he kept his natural accent or attempted to portray his Bond as British, the actor added: "I tried to do a British accent. I did say to them I wanted to wear the white tuxedo like Roger Moore. I wanted to bring back kung fu chops, and they looked at me like I was crazy."
"I said, 'If I do an Australian [accent], I'm gonna be the next George Lazenby.' He only did one [movie, 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service], and I didn't want to be like that. So I tried British. It was awful," Worthington added. "I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. I remember Martin going, 'Just do your normal voice, it's all cool, man.'"
Worthington would go on to find success in Hollywood, though Terminator: Salvation didn't do him many favours and he gave blockbuster filmmaking a break before returning for Avatar: The Way of Water last December.
With that proving to be a $2 billion hit, we're hoping to see much more of Worthington back on our screens...probably not as James Bond, though!