Antony Starr’s Leaked James Bond Audition Has The Boys Fans Going Wild

Movie lovers would be hard-pressed to find a movie role that comes with as much pressure, drama, and, oh yeah, controversy as James Bond. The general public is still waiting on pins and needles to see who officially takes the torch from the irreplaceable Daniel Craig, with rumors strongly pointing to “Kraven the Hunter” star Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the next man up to inherit the mantle. (It’s okay, Craig seems just fine using his clout to star in movies like “Queer,” “Wake Up Dead Man,” and, bizarrely enough, a “Sgt. Rock” adaptation for DC.) So, while the future of the franchise remains somewhat cloudy, what better time to look back at the past and consider all the what-ifs that could’ve potentially come to fruition?

Bond aficionados will forever obsess over fan-castings like Idris Elba, Dev Patel, and the always-popular Henry Cavill, but here’s one twist they probably didn’t see coming. None other than Homelander himself, “The Boys” actor Antony Starr, was once in the running to play the British superspy with a license to kill in 2006’s “Casino Royale” — or, at the very least, he made it far enough to earn himself a screen test for the then-new take on the famous character. Of course, this would eventually become a much younger, more hotheaded, and far less suave version of Bond than audiences had ever seen before. The video featuring Starr, however, feels like a far cry from Craig’s far less refined approach to the character. The footage was recently uploaded to blogger Ron South’s YouTube page (via Total Film), showing off a whopping four-and-a-half minutes from Starr’s original audition video taking place 20 years ago and immediately throwing “The Boys” fans into a tizzy.

Check out the full clip below!

For anyone who ever wanted to hear Homelander say, “The name’s Bond … James Bond” before ordering one of his distinctive vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred, of course), this is their lucky day. Few would argue that Antony Starr wasn’t pitch-perfect casting for the supervillain Homelander, the dead-eyed sociopath who murders and intimidates people like it’s his day job in the Prime Video series “The Boys.” Still, it’s quite a shock to see a much younger Starr with brunette hair and a vastly different accent attempt to turn up the charm on his scene partner. As is franchise tradition, Starr’s audition tape is actually a scene from a previous film in the franchise — in this case, a scene from 1995’s “GoldenEye” where Pierce Brosnan’s debonair spy flirts with the femme fatale known as Xenia Onatopp, played by Famke Janssen.

The audition tape is a rare peek at how the sausage is made for the venerable property, revealing what the Broccoli family was heavily considering at the time for their biggest swing yet. (When last we heard from sources close to the protective rights holders, producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly had some serious behind-the-scenes drama unfolding between her family and Amazon Studios.) Here, Starr delivers alternate takes on certain lines, redoes the entire scene from the top, and otherwise attempts to channel one of the most beloved Bond actors of them all. None of it even remotely resembles Craig’s future casting, of course, and that’s probably a solid indicator of why this particular audition apparently went no further.

The tape quickly made its way to Reddit, where both Bond enthusiasts and “The Boys” fans joined forces to comment on what might have been. Opinions seem split over whether Starr would’ve made a worthy James Bond or not, but it’s clear that things ultimately worked out for the best. Starr will next be seen in the fifth and final season of “The Boys,” which debuts on Prime Video sometime in 2026.