Reynolds said no to Bond

Burt Reynolds claims he turned down the chance to play superspy James Bond.

14:42 03 September 2004

Burt Reynolds claims he turned down the chance to play superspy James Bond.

The Smokey and the Bandit star said he was offered the part in 1969, after Sean Connery stepped down.

But he turned down the part - for the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service - believing whoever followed Connery would be panned.

"They did offer me Bond," Reynolds told the New York Post. "It was when Sean Connery was giving them a lot of trouble about, you know, things, so they said [to him]: 'To hell with you'."

"At the time I really thought, and rightly so, that Connery was amazing in the role and whoever did it would get killed."

George Lazenby, an Australian model, was cast as 007 for the film - and was promptly replaced with Roger Moore for the next instalment of the franchise.

But the film has a special place in the hearts of many Bond fans. It is the film with Diana Rigg as the Bond Girl, a Louis Armstrong theme tune and sees Bond cry. And Reynolds did express some sadness at passing on the opportunity to sip a shaken martini.

"Once in a while, when I have to send the alimony, I regret that decision. I would be so wealthy and probably living in England with a British accent," he noted.