James Bond has been played by many actors throughout the course of the franchise’s run. None, however, have been as iconic as Sean Connery.

It is not too far-fetched to say that this actor is the reason why the franchise became as successful as a did, having had an exceptionally long run wearing the suit of an English spy.

He featured in quite a few movies from the franchise, including From Russia with Love, Thunderball, Never Say Never Again, and You Only Live Twice.
Sean Connery as James Bond
The actor, unfortunately, ended up leaving the franchise suddenly due to reasons, that had to do with the direction the films were taking.

Interestingly enough the actor that almost replaced him could have potentially helped the franchise in so many different ways, considering how successful he was.

It would seem that Clint Eastwood almost played the role of 007 until he refused the role for the same reason that Connery did.

Why Did Sean Connery Quit The James Bond Franchise?

Sean Connery had always hinted that he wasn’t completely satisfied playing the role of James Bond. According to Collider, three years after his first appearance as the character, he confessed that he did not want to be a part of the film, because he knew that it would lead to a multi-film franchise that came with the contract.

He revealed that he wasn’t a big fan of contracts because they felt suffocating to him.

He even added that the bond image can get boring at times and the actors themselves had to make it interesting.
Sean Connery as James Bond

“I didn’t want to do it, because I could see that properly made, it would have to be the first of a series and I wasn’t sure I wanted to get involved in that and the contract that would go with it. Contracts choke you, and I wanted to be free.”

He also added, “This Bond image is a problem in a way and a bit of a bore, but one has just got to live with it.”

Later on, he finally revealed the true reason for his exit, which was credited to many different factors. For starters, Connery felt that he was being underpaid in the role.

On top of this, he hated the spotlight that he had been put under due to the role, which resulted in the media following him around everywhere.

He recalled a time when a photographer followed him into a restroom to take a picture of him, which resulted in him feeling disgusted.
Sean Connery as James Bond

“One of the reasons I stopped doing it was because I got really fed up with the space stuff and special effects. I just found it getting more and more influential in the movies.”

He even confessed to approaching the producers of the projects, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, to pay him more, however, they refused which resulted in him quitting.

After even revealed that he was getting fed up with all of the special effects and out-of-the-world plotlines.

His reason for this was that he thought that this was having more and more of an influence on how the films went on.

Clint Eastwood Almost Played James Bond

After Sean Connery left the project, the producers looked at many different actors who could fill his shoes.

The biggest on this list was perhaps, Clint Eastwood. Being one of the most successful actors of all time, it is no surprise that he was under consideration.

He did, however, end up rejecting the role for two main reasons. According to Collider, he started off by revealing that he was offered a great deal of money to play the role of James Bond in the franchise.
Sean Connery as James Bond

 “I was also offered pretty good money to do James Bond if I would take on the role. This was after Sean Connery left.

My lawyer represented the Broccolis and he came and said, ‘They would love to have you.’ But to me, well, that was somebody else’s gig.

That’s Sean’s deal. It didn’t feel right for me to be doing it… I always liked characters that were more grounded in reality.

Maybe they do super things or more-than-human things – like Dirty Harry, he has a knack for doing crazy things, or the western guys.”

However, the actor did not feel right, taking the role as he believed that it belonged to someone else, and it was not his to take.

He then revealed that he prefers doing rules that are more grounded in reality, rather than out of the world.

The actor may be referring to the science-fiction elements that made their way into the franchise, the reason my Connery left himself.