James Bond

James Bond through the ages

Six actors have officially played James Bond onscreen. They are:

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Two other films are generally considered unofficial Bond films because they were produced outside EON Productions’ main series of films: Casino Royale, a parody released in 1967 with David Niven as Bond, and Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball released in 1983 with Connery as Bond.

How the Cold War spy became a modern action hero

Sean Connery was the first to take on the role of Bond in Dr. No (1962), the first film in the franchise, which adapted the 1958 novel of the same name. It was produced by Albert (“Cubby”) Broccoli and Harry Saltzman through their freshly minted company, EON Productions. The film set the benchmark for all Bond movies to come, introducing the franchise’s iconic theme song in a flashy title sequence and establishing the tradition of idiosyncratic villains and glamorous love interests—later known in popular culture as “Bond girls.”

From the start Bond’s cinematic portrayal departed from Fleming’s original. Where Fleming had intended Bond to be little more than an unquestioning weapon of the secret service and short on personality, Connery’s Bond was charismatic and possessed a dry sense of humor absent in the books. The films largely rid Bond of any internal conflicts or self-doubt, which made him more willing to kill without hesitation. Fleming was displeased with Connery’s casting at first but warmed up to his performance, which had a note of danger lurking beneath his polished exterior. It was after Connery’s performance that Fleming gave Bond Scottish roots in the novels, perhaps alluding to the actor’s ancestry.

Connery played Bond in six EON films and one non-EON production. Parts of his run of Bond films became staples of the franchise, while others did not age as well and were reworked in later films. In addition to the objectification of women and their lack of agency in the novels and early films, critics take exception with how Bond often condoned and even committed acts of sexual violence against women. Though the films have tried to tone down the character’s blatant male chauvinism starting in the 1990s, the franchise continues to face censure because of its fraught history with female characters. In GoldenEye (1995), Bond’s boss, M, played by Judi Dench, acknowledges the issue by way of metacommentary, calling him a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War.”

Connery played Bond through the 1960s. George Lazenby played a more serious version of the character in a single film in 1969 when Connery briefly stepped away from the role. Roger Moore became the Bond of the ’70s and ’80s, bringing a lighter tone to the series. Timothy Dalton, who played Bond in two films in the latter half of the ’80s, brought back aspects of the grounded, headstrong portrayal of the character from the novels. In the gadget-heavy, sci-fi–influenced 1990s and early 2000s films Pierce Brosnan redefined Bond as witty and energetic. Bond remained effectively ageless throughout those decades.

However, as Daniel Craig took up the role with a new adaptation of Casino Royale (2006), the character’s history was formally restarted, establishing him definitively as a post-Cold War hero born in 1968. Craig brought a freshness and a believability to the series, which had by then fallen into tired tropes and often featured far-fetched plots and action sequences. Craig’s run was hugely successful and featured some of the most commercially and critically successful Bond films.

The Broccoli family held the production rights on all Bond movie adaptations until February 2025, when Amazon MGM Studios assumed control. Several months later it was announced that French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve would direct the next Bond film.