This Deep Fake Of Burt Reynolds As Sean Connery’s ‘James Bond’ Is Borderline Perfection


Burt Reynolds is one of the most iconic actors from Hollywood of yesteryear. Fun fact that most of you probably already know but I’m going to remind you of anyway: Burt Reynolds played football on a full scholarship at Florida State as a fullback and he was roommates with the legendary Lee Corso.

Back in 2015, Burt Reynolds was a guest on Good Morning America where he admitted that he regretted turning down the role of James Bond. Albert Broccoli produced some of the most iconic films in the Bond film series including Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and plenty of other Sean Connery greats.

In 1970, Albert Broccoli offered the role of ‘007’ to Burt Reynolds but he turned the role down saying “an American can’t play James Bond. It just can’t be done.” He’s not wrong. It’s an iconic British role and it should never be in the hands of an American actor, but that didn’t stop Burt Reynolds from regretting his decision down the line.

After Burt Reynolds turned down the role they turned back to Sean Connery for Diamonds Are Forever and gave him a then-record salary of $1.25 million for the role. Flash forward to today and we have the first glimpse of what Burt Reynolds might’ve looked like as James Bond thanks to the magic of Deep Fake technology.

Did I need to watch that clip five times just to soak it in? Probably not. Am I going to watch it again today at some point? You’re damn right, I am.

James Bond isn’t the only iconic role that Burt Reynolds turned down throughout his career. He also passed on the role of Han Solo in Star Wars which held the global ‘highest-grossing film’ record for over two decades. He said he passed on that role because he “was busy” but he clarified he wasn’t so busy he couldn’t do the film. That one has to sting.