In the entertainment industry, there are few roles out there that would be considered iconic. At this point, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars and Tony Stark from the MCU have earned their legendary status, and any person that may play these roles at some point in the future will have an unbelievable task ahead of them. Interestingly, the role of James Bond is an iconic one that has been shuffled around.
We have seen a number of notable men play 007, including Roger Moore. Moore was an amazing James Bond, and eventually, he retired from the role. Any performer would love to hold onto a job like that, but Moore had some interesting reasons for wanting to end his time as James Bond.
Let’s take a close look at why Roger Moore stopped playing James Bond!
Moore Was The 4th James Bond
To get a better understanding of Roger Moore’s time as James Bond and why he eventually stopped playing the role, we need to take things back to the beginning. Back when he was first cast as James Bond, Roger Moore would become the fourth man to play the character on the big screen.
As many film fans are aware, Sean Connery was the legendary performer that got the ball rolling for 007 on the big screen, and many people still consider him to be the quintessential James Bond to this very day. Connery would appear in 7 total James Bond flicks, setting an extremely high bar for any actor coming after him to portray the legendary character.
Before Moore had his chance, both David Niven and George Lazenby would both portray the character for 1 film, according to IMDb. After neither of those performers held down the role, it was time for a new man to enter the arena, and Roger Moore would make the most of his 007 opportunity.
The famed actor wound up playing James Bond in 7 films from 1973 to 1985, making for a lengthy and successful run. In fact, there are many people that still feel like Moore is perhaps the best James Bond ever. Of course, fans will always be divided on their opinion about the best 007, but the love that Moore still receives just goes to show how great he was in the role.
Despite all of this success, Roger Moore would eventually come to the realization that his time as 007 would eventually need to come to an end.
He Retired Due To His Age
From 1973 to 1985, Roger Moore was was a fantastic James Bond on the big screen. However, once Moore realized that his time as the character was not going to hold up, he eventually made the decision to leave the role.
Roger Moore, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, would open up about his decision to leave the character, saying, “It had been on my mind for a long time. I became very conscious that I was getting long in the tooth to play the great lover…I was 57 in the last one. You can see I was getting a little scraggy around the neck.”
It is pretty interesting to learn about the self-awareness that Moore had during this time. There are some performers that would love to consider themselves young enough to pull of any role, but Moore was well aware that he was not young and that it was time to stop holding off the inevitable.
Digital Spy reports that Moore was still able to hold up physically, but it was his age, especially in relation to the Bond Girls, it was a bit too much.
Moore would say, “It wasn’t because of the physical stuff as I could still play tennis for two hours a day and do a one-hour workout every morning. Physically I was okay but facially I started looking… well, the leading ladies were young enough to be my grand-daughter and it becomes disgusting.”
Once Moore was done the door opened for someone new to step on in.
He Was Replaced By Timothy Dalton
Every James Bond actor has had their time come, and when Roger Moore was done, Timothy Dalton was the next man in line.
According to. IMDb, Timothy Dalton would only appear in 2 Bond films, marking the lowest output since the 60s. His time was brief, but he eventually gave way to Pierce Brosnan, who would go on to appear in 4 Bond films.
These days, Daniel Craig is the man holding it down as 007. To date, Craig has been Bond in 4 films and has another one coming out next year. It’s reported that Craig will be done with Bond after his next film, which means that someone else will have a chance at the role of a lifetime.
Age may have caught up with Roger Moore, but he still left a huge legacy behind by playing James Bond.