Sam Neill's Leaked James Bond Screen Test Proves He Would Have Made A Great 007

Sam Neill's death at the age of 78 has shocked the film world. The veteran actor leaves behind a monumental body of work, with Neill's best movies running the gamut of impressive blockbusters like "Jurassic Park" to smaller indie fare like "The Hunt for the Wilderpeople." However, there's a role he never played that he came very close to winning — James Bond. As we look back on what we've lost with Neill's passing, it's also neat to think about what could've been, and a lot of people probably don't realize how close he came to playing 007 in 1987's "The Living Daylights." Screen test footage of Neill as Bond has found its way online, showing the beloved actor with an unbuttoned white shirt gripping onto a pistol and approaching a woman in bed.

Neill looks right at home as Bond to the point where many involved in the film wanted to cast him. In the documentary "Inside The Living Daylights," producer and co-screenwriter Michael G. Wilson said, "All of us were impressed with Sam Neill and very much wanted to use him. He'd been very successful as 'Reilly, Ace of Spies.' Like a lot of things in life, it was a close race." That close race ultimately came down to the opinion of the 007 head honcho at the time, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli. Future Bond star Pierce Brosnan was also in consideration, but the lead role in "The Living Daylights" finally went to Timothy Dalton.

Timothy Dalton played James Bond in "The Living Daylights" while Pierce Brosnan eventually played the secret agent in 1995's "GoldenEye," going on to star in three more Bond flicks. Sam Neill would get his own franchise later on, playing Dr. Alan Grant in "Jurassic Park," a role he reprised in "Jurassic Park III" and again in "Jurassic World: Dominion" many years later. And while one might assume missing out on Bond would haunt Neill, it turns out he didn't even want to audition, despite having shone as spy Sidney Reilly in the British TV series "Reilly, Ace of Spies." In a 2018 interview with The Telegraph, Neill was asked about his brief foray into Bond territory, and he didn't even want to talk about it: "Don't ask! It was all a bad dream. The lesson I learnt that day was never be bullied by your agent into going along to something you don't want to do ever again. That was the last time."

Neill added that if he'd been cast as Bond, it would have sent him to a level of fame he didn't want. Sure, he had a stellar career with many notable performances, but he also flew under the radar to a certain extent: For every "Event Horizon," there's a handful of movies you've probably never heard of, and he was glad he was able to make a career as an actor while retaining a certain level of anonymity. "To be a movie star at that level you make a covenant, an agreement with some hellish angel that you cannot get out of," Neill explained. "And I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." Neill felt the same way about missing out on "The Lord of the Rings." However, even without those credits, no one can say Neill's career was anything less than extraordinary.