“I am of British descent”: Despite His Heritage, Clint Eastwood Had One Reason to Turn Down James Bond That Would’ve Earned Him Millions
Clint Eastwood has been revered as a veteran actor-turned-director with the plethora of movies that he has been associated with throughout Hollywood. From starring in iconic roles in The Good, the Bad, and, the Ugly to directing The Mule, Eastwood has indeed come a long way.
Back in the 1970s when Eastwood was all the talk of the town, he had received a golden opportunity to star in a role that could’ve changed his life forever. For some or the other reason, Clint Eastwood decided to reject the role of James Bond for one very specific reason.
When Clint Eastwood Refused The Role of James Bond
Although the Sully director is an American actor and director, Eastwood has English blood running through his veins. By starring in cowboy films (often called Spaghetti Westerns), Clint Eastwood essentially became an icon of masculinity throughout the early 1970s and 80s.
With George Lazenby quitting the role of James Bond in 1969 before his first and only film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was released, the throne of Bond became empty once again. As per the reports by Express, Eastwood was asked whether he would like to become the next James Bond. Since he already was of British descent, Eastwood had but one problem that made him refuse the offer.
“I thought James Bond should be British. I am of British descent but by that same token, I thought that it should be more of the culture there and also, it was not my thing.”
The role of James Bond wasn’t the only famous role that Eastwood chose to ignore since he was also offered the role of Superman in 1978 but the actor wanted to portray an MCU role instead!
Clint Eastwood Wanted To Be Namor The Sub-Mariner
Back when the MCU wasn’t even a thing, Eastwood was offered the role of Clark Kent aka Superman back in 1978. In an interview with Hero Complex (via MTV), the actor revealed his reasons for rejecting Superman and a character that he wished to portray instead.
“I was like, ‘Superman? Nah, nah, that’s not for me.’ Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s for somebody, but not me. The Sub-Mariner, that’s the one I always liked. I had all of those comics when I was a kid.”
Well, Clint Eastwood never got the opportunity to portray the character of Namor the Sub-Mariner. The role was given to Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta in the 2022 film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
