The James Bond That Almost Was: James Brolin Tells All

July 13, 2025: James Brolin, just shy of his 85th birthday, is looking back on one of the biggest “what-ifs” of his career—nearly becoming 007. The actor revealed that in the early 1980s, he was offered the role of James Bond in Octopussy after Roger Moore stepped away from the franchise. Brolin was even training with stuntmen and preparing to move to London when he got the call: Moore had changed his mind, and Brolin was out.

“It was all happening—I had my apartment, I was prepping for a year-long shoot, and then suddenly it was over,” Brolin recalled. Around that time, he was navigating the unexpected fallout of his breakout role in The Amityville Horror, a hit that left Hollywood unsure of how to cast him next. He even turned down Superman, saying he couldn’t picture himself “in a big red sock hanging from wires.”

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Over time, Brolin leaned into what he loved most: character acting. From playing Ronald Reagan to Clark Gable to deeply psychological roles, he found fulfillment not in leading-man glamour but in disappearing into roles. “Looking your best and saying the lines perfectly? That’s not interesting to me,” he admitted.

Now, Brolin has shifted his passion into directing, working across genres with no strict preference. “They’re varied,” he says of his current projects. “I just like stories that are worth telling.” And though he never wore the tuxedo of 007, Brolin seems at peace carving his own legacy—one complex character at a time.