{"id":14068,"date":"2025-11-19T04:07:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=14068"},"modified":"2025-11-19T04:07:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:07:31","slug":"%f0%9f%8e%a9-almost-007-dick-van-dyke-reveals-why-he-said-no-to-playing-james-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=14068","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfa9 Almost 007: Dick Van Dyke Reveals Why He Said No to Playing James Bond"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOLLYWOOD, CA<\/b> \u2013 Beloved American icon Dick Van Dyke<\/b> has revealed a startling near-miss in his legendary career: he was approached to play James Bond<\/b> after Sean Connery stepped away from the role in 1971, but ultimately turned it down due to concerns over his public image\u2014and his notorious British accent.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a special interview with Al Roker on NBC\u2019s <\/span>Today<\/span><\/i> show on Tuesday, the 99-year-old star of <\/span>Mary Poppins<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang<\/span><\/i> confirmed the surprising near-casting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI almost did,\u201d Van Dyke responded when asked if the rumor was true.<\/span> \u201c[Producer] Albert Broccoli came to me and said, \u2018Would you like to be Bond?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Have you heard my British accent?’\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Van Dyke’s heavily criticized attempt at a cockney accent in Mary Poppins<\/i> remains a famous\u2014or infamous\u2014piece of cinematic history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the self-deprecating joke, the actor stated his primary reason for declining the role was a fear of disappointing his dedicated fanbase. He felt the shift from his established family-friendly roles to the seductive, action-heavy world of 007 would be too drastic, and that fans might not have \u201caccepted it\u201d<\/b> from him.<\/span><\/p>\n

While he acknowledged that playing Bond would have been <\/span>\u201ca great experience,\u201d<\/span><\/b> the television and film veteran ultimately passed on the opportunity, which later went to Roger Moore.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Century of Optimism: Van Dyke Nears 100<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Elsewhere in the interview, the <\/span>Dick Tracy<\/span><\/i> star discussed his upcoming milestone birthday on December 13, and his unwavering commitment to his career.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Despite approaching his centennial, Van Dyke insists retirement is not an option.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t want to,\u201d he stated while promoting his new book, 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist\u2019s Guide to a Happy Life<\/i><\/b>, which is set for release on November 18.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLLYWOOD, CA \u2013 Beloved American icon Dick Van Dyke has revealed a startling near-miss in his legendary career: he was approached to play James Bond after Sean Connery stepped away from the role in 1971, but ultimately turned it down due to concerns over his public image\u2014and his notorious British accent. During a special interview…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}