[ad_1]

Sam Neill left mortified by resurfaced James Bond screen test after he unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of 007: ‘It’s cruel to play that’

Sam Neill was left red-faced on Tuesday after footage of his awkward screen test auditioning for the role of James Bond in the 1986 movie The Living Daylights resurfaced.

The esteemed actor, 75, was appearing on the Today show to talk about his new memoir when fill-in host Brooke Boney surprised Sam by playing the audition tape. 

The footage shows Neill as Bond entering a hotel room wearing an unbuttoned shirt and holding a pistol in his hand.

‘My friends call me Bond. James Bond,’ he is seen telling a half-naked woman lying on a hotel bed. 

Neill was mortified after watching the old footage and quickly covered his face with his hand in shame. 

Sam Neill (pictured) was left red-faced on Tuesday after footage of his awkward screen test for the role of James Bond in the 1986 movie The Living Daylights resurfaced

Sam Neill (pictured) was left red-faced on Tuesday after footage of his awkward screen test for the role of James Bond in the 1986 movie The Living Daylights resurfaced

The esteemed actor, 75, was appearing on the Today show to talk about his new memoir when fill-in host Brooke Boney surprised Sam by playing the audition

The esteemed actor, 75, was appearing on the Today show to talk about his new memoir when fill-in host Brooke Boney surprised Sam by playing the audition

‘That is so cruel to play that,’ he joked.

He explained he was glad his audition was unsuccessful as he didn’t want to be known as the one actor who messed up the iconic role.

Neill lost out to British actor Timothy Dalton, 77, who also played Bond in 1989’s Licence to Kill.

It comes after Neill assured his fans that he’s ‘alive and kicking’ and doing well after revealing he was being treated for stage-three Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The Jurassic Park star disclosed the news in his upcoming memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This, where he writes in the first chapter that he is ‘possibly dying.’ 

The footage shows Sam as Bond entering a hotel room wearing an unbuttoned shirt and holding a pistol in his hand

The footage shows Sam as Bond entering a hotel room wearing an unbuttoned shirt and holding a pistol in his hand

'My friends call me Bond. James Bond,' he is seen telling a half-naked woman lying on a hotel bed

‘My friends call me Bond. James Bond,’ he is seen telling a half-naked woman lying on a hotel bed

In the wake of his news hitting the headlines, Neill took to Instagram on Saturday to give a health update, telling is followers he has been in remission for eight months. 

The thespian also told how he’s heading to work soon to begin a new project alongside actress Annette Bening, 64, and other ‘wonderful cast’. 

He wrote in a caption alongside a video: ‘I am alive and well and I have been in remission for eight months, which feels really good. I’m alive and kicking and going to work.’

Neill also told the BBC that he has had ‘a ferocious type of aggressive’ non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

He said he began writing his memoir as a distraction and to ‘give me a reason to get through the day.’

Neill was mortified after watching the old footage and quickly covered his face with his hand in shame

Neill was mortified after watching the old footage and quickly covered his face with his hand in shame

[ad_2]
This post first appeared on Daily mail