8 replies to this topic

[okwong]

Does anybody have expounding theories as to why Sean has had a better career post and during Bond than the others? I mean I admire Connery as an actor but Dalton was better than him and Brosnan supposedly is better trained than him?

[ChandlerBing]

Connery was stubborn. He hung in there. He was also very popular from the get-go with Bond. He was up there with The Beatles when it came to popularity. Harrison Ford is the same way, very famous. Is he a terrific actor? He's good, but he's not Olivier. He's still around, though. People like him, his persona (despite Ally McBeal). Dalton is someone who doesn't want a lot of attention or fame, which makes me wonder why he ever became an actor.

[1q2w3e4r]

Pretty much what's said above. Connery was HUGE in the 60's. Argueably the most recognised movie star in the world thanks to 007. He had a little trouble in his 40s because people recognised him only as Bond. But by the late 80s he'd successfully transformed his image to that of an "elderly statesman." See Indiana Jones and The Untouchables. By the turn of the 90s he'd won an oscar (was already considered a legend) And people still loved him.

An ironic thing happened, he could make any movie he wanted and they became more successful. Even the one's that didn't do specatularly didn't harm him.

I think it's basically come down to his stubborness, ambition and also importantly his overall screen presense and the fact he was votes the sexist man alive at 60 in 1990 didn't hurt too much.

[Red Grant]

I agree with what has already been said but would add that Connery became a huge star because of Bond. this allowed him to diversify and try other acting roles that stretched him further than playing a cardboard hero. He succeeded very well in the 60's & 70's but his career went off a bit after that. Nowadays he is still in demand for his "name" more than anything. He rarely stretches his acting talents any more. That said, there are few, very few star who have lasted as long as he has and stayed very close to the top. John Wayne is the only other I can think of. And how often did John Wayne play anone other than John Wayne? Moore was a big TV star, bond made him a huge movie star but he never succeded at anything else as he isn't that great an actor outside of playing those kind of roles. Dalton has done great work in the theatre that nobody sees and some interesting TV work. Brosnan is really a sort of Connery/Moore hybrid. He is a better actor than Moore and his work outside of Bond is successful but nothing really substantial. Connery worked with Hitchcock and made THE HILL/THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING but what has Brosnan really done? Time will tell...

[kevrichardson]

Dalton was a transplanted stage actor. More comfortble as Hamlet than Bond . I still thought he would have grown in the role had he a chance too continue. Moore was a establish international TV star before he became Bond . Remember Ivanhoe , The Saint , The Pesuaders, . So to say he was not sucessful is a bit wrong . Lazenby was happy making Chop-fu films in the far east. Brosnan was taken the Connery patha still stars in mainstream film (smaller ones) . Connery was just a major player in Hollywood and Britian . So he made all the right career moves .

[WarBird]

He diffintly has the best career so far. It would be hard for anyone to come close to him.

[kevrichardson]

Originally posted by WarBird
He diffintly has the best career so far.  It would be hard for anyone to come close to him.

well one you would never see Sean Connery playing a "Homosexual" . I am not against "Gays" , but it says something about Moores' agent . Plus Moore has been on "ALIAS" . Conery hasa reamined a International Film Star in the traditon of Cable , Grant . Also in has star in a unique blend of films . Not just Action -Adventure , but comedy , Drama , Fantasy . Plus he acting range is greater . I am sure Brosnan has taken note !

[Mister Asterix]

Quite simply, Connery hung around long enough to have a career resurgence. Connery did a whole lot of dogs after he finished with Bond and it took him quite a long time to again be seen as a ‘top’ actor.

Moore was much older when he hung up the Walther, so he didn’t have Connery’s luxury of making a decade of lesser pictures before catching on. Plus Connery’s look has changed from his Bond days, where Moore is still associated with Bond because he still looks like an even older version of that guy in A View to a Kill.

Dalton, I think, hasn’t caught on because his Bond career is wrongly perceived as a failure. Double that for Lazenby.

[rafterman]

Yeah, Connery has had an up down career, but it's been a long one, Moore was successful before Bond and then after he slowed down in his work, Dalton has never had a great career, but has not had as many opportunities post Bond, and Lazenby shot himself in the foot, which has always been held against him...