Clive Owen has declared “Bond was the best thing that never happened to me.”

Prior to Daniel Craig’s casting in ‘Casino Royale’, Owen was for many years deemed by the press to be the actor most likely to succeed Pierce Brosnan as 007.

However, Owen tells the Sunday Express, “It’s easy to keep saying no to a role you’re not being offered.

“Am I going to be the next Sean Connery? No, I’ll just be the next Clive Owen.”

Owen’s name was first touted in relation to Bond after the surprise success of 1998 British drama ‘Croupier’, which saw the actor play the tuxedo-clad casino worker of the title.

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Owen himself clearly credits this role as a professional turning point, telling the Sunday Express “If I hadn’t worn that tux in ‘Croupier’, I’d still be begging for the parts on cop shows Robson Green turned down!”

Casinos, tuxedos: it’s easy to see why Bond seemed a natural progression.

Indeed, Owen told The Times earlier this year, “I wear a tuxedo in ‘Croupier’ and that might have had something to do with (the Bond rumours).”

However, he insisted “I was never party to any of it…There was a lot of talk, but it didn’t come from me.”

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Picture Credit: Channel 4 Films