Sam Worthington reveals missing out on James Bond after ‘awful’ audition

Before he scored the lead in Avatar, Australian actor Sam Worthington was almost cast in another smash hit franchise – if it wasn’t for his terrible audition.

Australian actor Sam Worthington has revealed he was in the running for the role of James Bond but failed to impress casting directors with his “awful” audition.

The 46-year-old Avatar star sat down with Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa on Friday morning, where he revealed he auditioned for the 2006 film Casino Royale, which ultimately marked Daniel Craig’s debut as 007.

Worthington said the screen test involved wearing a tuxedo and acting out a scene from the ’60s Bond movie, From Russia With Love, in which Sean Connery starred.

“So you [have to] walk in, and there’s the girl in the bed. You charm her … And I couldn’t get the killer of Bond down, I just couldn’t get the charm, I couldn’t charm her. The suit didn’t fit man,” Worthington said.

Sam Worthington has revealed his ‘awful’ James Bond audition. Picture: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios

Charm wasn’t the only thing he struggled with.

Worthington, who also revealed Sam Neill and Mel Gibson both also tried to score the role at some point, said his attempts at the spy agent’s British accent were “awful”.

“I said, ‘If I do an Australian I’m gonna be the next George Lazenby,’” Worthington said, referencing the Australian actor who famously took on Bond in just one film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.

Daniel Craig ultimately scored the role, playing Bond for five films. Picture: Sony Pictures

“He only did one and I didn’t want to be like that. So I tried British. It was awful.

“I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. I remember [director] Martin [Campbell] going, ‘Just do your normal voice. It’s all cool man.’”

Just a few short years later, Worthington would hit the jackpot with a separate blockbuster – James Cameron’s ambitious Avatar – which was released in 2009 and remains the highest-grossing film of all time, with the sequel The Way Of Water currently in cinemas.

Worthington plays Jake Sully in the Avatar franchise. Picture: 20th Century Studios

Oscar-winner Matt Damon, 52, has previously opened up about turning down the lead in Avatar before Worthington was cast, sacrificing a pay packet which would have eventually amounted to $US292 million ($A422 million).

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival last year, Damon said: “I was offered a little movie called Avatar…

“James Cameron offered me 10 per cent of it. I will go down in history – you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.”

Meanwhile, fans are still eagerly awaiting news of which actor will score the role of Bond in the next film, after Craig bowed out of the spy franchise following his fifth and final movie, No Time To Die.

Recently, it was reported that Bullet Train star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has emerged as the unlikely frontrunner.

Originally published as Sam Worthington reveals missing out on James Bond after ‘awful’ audition