Lewis Collins: Bond?

I'll put this here for now. Occasionally if I watch something of his, I wonder to myself about if Lewis Collins had been Bond.



I forget now whether he tried for the role around the time of Octopussy or was asked to screentest. Either way it's out there, vaguely, that he could have been Bond. I debated doing a short fanfic with him in mind but it was a pointless exercise as they can be.

I think, to start it off, Collins has the physicality. The best of his work (and I fear outside Professionals it's not the best body of work), was Who Dares Wins. Not a bad film, a bit stupid but not bad (Roy Budd's score alone is worth the admission fee). He has this natural physicality in line with Lazenby, some might say the acting chops too. It's hard though to imagine him in the 'serious' scenes, saying "maybe we really are two of a kind" to Maud Adams and yet he could easily kick Locke off a cliff. VTAK he would've been a perfect fit but see what you chaps think.

I too remember thinking when I saw 'The Final Option' (WDW's alternate title) that Collins would make a good 007. However, the EON poobahs apparently found him too rough and argumentative.

I could imagine Cubby losing his wig over dealing with Collins. Shame there isn't a screentest out somewhere, not one I've seen or heard anyway.

Do wonder what he'd have been like ... he'd have been all over the action stuff, but I can't imagine they'd have scripted Moore-esque humour for him and he may possibly have been out of his depth in romantic scenes.

I guess at the very least he would have done as much of his own stunts as possible. Who Dares Wins has romantic scenes of a type and they pass for a film like that, nothing on par with Bond. Unless he had a similar Melina type thing, where though there's a hint of it, nothing is 'sealed' until the end.