New research from Betway has analysed the most successful Bond actors
Few roles are as iconic or fiercely coveted as James Bond. Since Dr. No first hit screens in 1962, the dapper British spy has become a cinematic legend, with stars like Sean Connery and Roger Moore playing the part.
Pierce Brosnan dominated the franchise in the 90s, and with his new film, The Thursday Murder Club, set to be released on Netflix this month, the actor found himself beating the likes of Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville and 007 rival Timothy Dalton.
Daniel Craig has been the most recent incarnation, and after the actor bowed out in 2021 following the release of No Time to Die, speculation has been rife over which star will step into 007’s shoes, with names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, James Norton, and Henry Cavill dominating the rumour mill.
But becoming Bond may not be the recipe for Hollywood success. According to new research from Betway, which analysed the most successful stars across all 25 official Bond films, the top seven didn’t even play the leading role.
The success of each star was measured by the number of films or TV shows, prestigious awards and nominations over the years, Reddit comments and their overall IMDB ratings.
In the top spot is Judi Dench, who starred as M since the 1995 film GoldenEye. She has starred in 140 films and TV shows, with an impressive 72 award wins to her name and 186 nominations.
Madonna is the second most successful. The singing legend had a cameo role as a fencing instructor called Verity in the 2002 film Die Another Day. She also performed the film’s title song, which played during the opening credits.
The third most successful Bond star is Ralph Fiennes. The English actor first appeared in Skyfall in 2012 as Gareth Mallory, the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He then took over the role of M in Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021).
The most successful Bond actor across the movie franchise’s run is Daniel Craig. He has starred in 71 films with 21 award wins. He joined in 2005 as the sixth ever Bond, and played the role for 15 years, making him the longest serving.
Actor | Role/Bond Movie | Films/TV shows | Awards (Wins) | Nominations | Reddit comments | Sentiment Score | IMDb rating average | Score |
Judi Dench | M – first appearance Golden Eye | 140 | 72 | 186 | 5,555 | 54 | 6.8 | 90 |
Madonna | Verity – Die Another Day | 130 | 53 | 139 | 5,829 | 54 | 6.91 | 86 |
Ralph Fiennes | M – Spectre | 96 | 59 | 175 | 1,797 | 56.3 | 7 | 84 |
Mads Mikkelsen | Le Chiffre – Casino Royale | 64 | 50 | 54 | 9,483 | 55.8 | 6.8 | 81 |
Christoph Waltz | Ernst Stavro Blofeld – Spectre | 126 | 88 | 43 | 6,786 | 54.9 | 6.02 | 80 |
Charles Dance | Claus – For Your Eyes Only | 165 | 15 | 24 | 5,934 | 55.6 | 6.74 | 79 |
Rami Malek | Lyutsifer Safin – Spectre | 40 | 28 | 50 | 7,795 | 54.8 | 7.08 | 78 |
Daniel Craig | James Bond – Casino Royale | 71 | 21 | 82 | 6,373 | 55.2 | 6.74 | 77 |
Ben Whishaw | Q – Skyfall | 70 | 26 | 71 | 3,033 | 56 | 6.81 | 75 |
Pierce Brosnan | James Bond – GoldenEye | 108 | 23 | 27 | 6,056 | 55.9 | 6.4 | 75 |
Hugh Bonneville | Air Warfare Officer – Tomorrow Never Dies | 154 | 5 | 23 | 1,334 | 56.6 | 6.9 | 74 |
Timothy Dalton | James Bond – The Living Daylights | 75 | 2 | 5 | 8,146 | 57 | 6.78 | 74 |
Gerard Butler | Leading Seaman – Tomorrow Never Dies | 67 | 6 | 17 | 8,319 | 54.9 | 6.4 | 72 |
Tobias Menzies | Villiers – For Your Eyes Only | 67 | 5 | 14 | 2,508 | 56.7 | 7.36 | 72 |
Minnie Driver | Irina – GoldenEye | 98 | 12 | 26 | 2,164 | 55.8 | 6.67 | 71 |
David Harbour | Gregg Beam – Quantum of Solace | 74 | 9 | 20 | 4,527 | 54.1 | 6.61 | 71 |
Joanna Lumley | Irma Bunt – On Her Majesty’s Service | 124 | 8 | 10 | 580 | 56.8 | 6.78 | 71 |
George Lazenby | James Bond – On Her Majesty’s Service | 65 | 0 | 1 | 8,734 | 56.3 | 6.05 | 70 |
Eva Green | Vesper Lynd – Casino Royale | 30 | 6 | 24 | 6,273 | 55 | 6.45 | 69 |
Richard Kiel | Jaws – The Spy Who Loved Me | 83 | 0 | 1 | 1,831 | 56 | 6.4 | 66 |
Teri Hatcher | Paris Carver – Tomorrow Never Dies | 63 | 7 | 19 | 409 | 54 | 6.34 | 65 |
Britt Ekland | Mary Goodnight – The Man with the Golden Gun | 80 | 0 | 1 | 594 | 54.3 | 5.96 | 62 |
Alessandra Ambrosio | Tennis Girl – Casino Royale | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.38 | 52 |
Methodology
Films/TV shows – Number as listed on IMDb as either an Actor or Actress.
Awards (Wins) – The number of “Wins” listed on their IMDb page.
Nominations – The number of nominations listed on their IMDb page.
Reddit comments – The number of reddit comments that could be scrapped from r/movies.
“Positive Sentiment” – The sentiment score out of 100, based on how positive the comments about that actor or actress was on r/movies. Sentiment is based on a large set of keywords where ones with negative connotations score badly and ones with positive ones score higher
IMDb rating average – The average rating of credits of being an actor or actress shows or movies on IMDb.
Score – This is the overall score given the individual score which was the average of the metrics which were rate from 50 to 100 where 100 was the best or highest and 50 was the worst. A floor of 50 was used as all Actors and Actresses on the list deserves credit.
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