James Brolin, star of “Hotel” and “Pensacola:Wings Of Gold”, wasn`t just rumored to be the next James Bond, he was James Bond; for a day at least. He started off his long, weird odyssey towards 007 by screen-testing with Maud Adams (ex-Andrea Anders), recreating the key seduction scene in From Russia with Love, as well as another small scene with the actress who played Penelope Smallbone.

This occurred after For Your Eyes Only had been released, but before Octopussy began filming. Roger Moore was holding out, having his customary contract wranglings with Cubby Broccoli. This time, Cubby was ready for it, having Brolin lined up and literally waiting to take over the part.

What about Brolin`s American accent? The conventional wisdom was that that part of Bond`s character would just be overlooked. According to several inside sources familiar with what happened at the time, Brolin was in a hotel in London, ready to begin filming at Pinewood the next day when Moore jumped back on board the project.

Brolin then went on to star in the highly successful ABC-TV series Hotel, which later guest starred Maud Adams.

Note the resemblance to another also-ran, Christian Bale.