Not Roger Moore, James Brolin was to be cast as James Bond in 'Octopussy'
Brolin said he was asked to sign on for 1983's Octopussy after Roger Moore "said he would never do another" 007 film.
"He was out, so I flew over and I met all the people," he was quoted as saying by People. "And I got my apartment, and I started working with the stuntmen, and Cubby Broccoli hired me."
Octopussy is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It was the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond and the second to be directed by John Glen. George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum and Michael G Wilson wrote the screenplay.
"We hadn't signed any papers yet. I got back to L.A. to get my stuff because I was going to be gone for a year. And I got a call saying Roger decided to do one more, and I was out," he continued.
Brolin said he was trying to find his best project, unsure of what was next for him.
" Amityville was the biggest-grossing independent film of all time, and nobody knew what to do with me, because of the character," he said.
"I got offered [the first] Superman and turned it down because I couldn't see myself being hung up on wires in a big red sock," he said. "It just wasn't the direction I wanted to go."
"I really liked playing [Ronald] Reagan. I really liked playing Clark Gable. I really liked playing a guy that was going nuts in Amityville," he said. "And I've done a lot of different characters that people aren't familiar with. That's my favourite," he said.
He continued, "To be a leading man and just looking your best and saying the words perfect, it's not interesting at all to me. And yet I'm stuck with it, or have been."
Time also brought Brolin to his love of directing, which is where his focus lies these days. He currently has several different projects in different stages of development, ranging widely in genres. It's something he's taken with him from acting into his directing career.
"I don't have any preferences. They're varied. It's hard to say I like a certain kind of thing," he said.
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