Pierce Brosnan Championed Colin Salmon To Be His James Bond Successor: It is always difficult to remake the face of the James Bond movies. There have been many interesting men in history who could have played the role of 007 and Colin Salmon is one of them.
Pierce Brosnan was so impressed by the man that he endorsed him as James Bond’s successor. How close was it to actually happening?
Colin Salmon was so close to being considered for James Bond
Table of Contents
The world knew Casino Royale was the next installment before Salmon’s name was even mentioned. The role of Charles Robinson was that of a MI6 family member active during Pierce Brosnan’s era as 007. This Resident Evil actor created a unique niche in this highly guarded world.
You only have to look at the betting odds from 2004, when Colin Salmon was a favourite for the role. We’ve witnessed firsthand how Rege-Jean Page or Henry Cavill can outperform the betting odds, without official word.
When Salmon appeared on the Spyhards podcast, he was asked how close he was to wearing the tuxedo. Colin answered that he had never been to an official conversation, but he also explained what this discourse meant.
No, not that I was privy to. No. Barbara was the first to intimate it actually, she was a champion of it. But it was just how do you do it, I think was the question at that point. … It was a difficult time in a way, because there was riding, it was a lot on it. I sort of felt the most important thing was to allow the debate to go on, because I met young people all over the place, black kids and stuff, who’d just go, ‘Hey, you could be James Bond.’ I’m saying, ‘Man, you could be James Bond.’ It was important, and it is, because if you can see it, you can be it. Psychologically, for me, I think I struggled a bit, because it just wasn’t going to happen. We weren’t so much into the social networks as we are now, but I did sort of have some pretty intense conversations, a bit of trolling, and a bit of people getting really angry about it. … I didn’t play it up, I just carried on really. And I had some amazing experiences because of it, and they were always positive.
The hype surrounding Colin Salmon’s possible James Bond casting erupted at an incontinence time for the franchise. It was wide open with Pierce Brosnan’s post -Die Another Day firing opening the way to the next Commander Bond.
Salmon was skeptical about a “blonde Bond”, just like fans were suspicious of a Bond with blonde hair. The director Martin Campbell eventually screen-tested eight actors and Daniel Craig emerged victorious. Salmon would continue to have support from his greatest defender even through the next era of Bond movies.
How Colin Salmon’s James Bond Experience convinced Pierce Brosnan he’d make a solid new Bond
Persuading Pierce Brosnan that he wanted to be the next James Bond was a key factor in Colin’s staying with the franchise. Although he was not originally scheduled to appear in 1997’s tomorrow never Dies film, Colin Salmon was chosen as the first choice to play a new role. Brosnan was impressed by Salmon’s screen testing of Bond Girl candidates .
Colin Salmon was asked if Charles Robinson would be staying around for The World Is Not Enough or Die Another day. He said that it wasn’t in the plans at first. Salmon recounted the story of Pierce Brosnan and how he got back to Robinson.
No, it wasn’t discussed. I didn’t know what the process was, so I just did [Tomorrow Never Dies.] It went really well, I mean the response to [Robinson] was great. Barbara was a champion, and I think Pierce saw the videos of me screen testing the girls, and that when he started to say, ‘God. Colin would make a great Bond.’ We’d sort of exacerbated and catalyzed the situation.
Pierce Brosnan was the catalyst for Salmon’s return back to Bond. He fought for his co-star’s promotion to 007 well into the Craig era . Colin Salmon is an intriguing choice in a franchise that has sparked many “what If” discussions about who might have been the lead. If he had won, he would have become the first black James Bond.
Even more important, the screen tests he did with the women who wanted to be part of the Bond legacy suggest that Salmon would have made a great 007 in today’s modern era. Although it’s unfortunate that it didn’t happen, it’s comforting to know Pierce Brosnan was there for Colin Salmon the whole time.
