James Bond Actors Ranked By Total Movie Appearances

James Bond has become one of the most enduring live-action characters of all time. Few characters can claim the suave secret agent’s combination of sheer longevity and the huge amount of actors who have played them. Because of this, every viewer has plenty of potential favorite James Bond actors to choose from. However, this time we’re not playing favorites. Instead, we’re looking at cold, hard facts in order to find out which Bond actor has made most movie appearances as the character.   

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Normally, lists like this are quite straightforward, but since nothing ever comes easy to James Bond, there’s one ground rule we need to set. In order to get a comprehensive list and avoid potential issues, the Bond actor who has made more films for the official James Bond film series’ production company, Eon Productions, will be awarded the win in case of a tie. With that settled and without any further ado, let’s dive into our list of James Bond actors, ranked by their number of appearances. 

Not even Sean Connery was confident he would make a good James Bond at first, and it probably didn’t help that the writer of the Bond novels, Ian Fleming, was championing for a different actor. Fleming’s favorite for the role was David Niven, who had a somewhat more refined air than the comparative newcomer Connery — not to mention an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “Separate Tables” (1958) in his pocket. Fate and the film industry work in strange ways, however. The role went to Connery, and history has proven that the choice was rock solid. As for Niven, he also got to play the role once … after a fashion, anyway.

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Niven’s contribution to the on-screen history of James Bond is the infamous, star-studded non-Eon parody “Casino Royale” (1967) which tends to be remembered less than fondly. The comedic movie posits Niven’s version of the character as the original James Bond, who comes out of retirement for one last explosive mission (thus pioneering the “every Bond actor portrays a different guy” theory that keeps floating about). Suffice to say, the end result is so far removed from both Ian Fleming’s original novel and the Bond film franchise that /Film didn’t bother to include this version of “Casino Royale” on our ranking of James Bond movies.  

After Sean Connery first left the role of James Bond in the wake of “You Only Live Twice” (1967), recasting the secret agent became a necessity — but one that posed its share of difficulties. The proverbial finger ultimately pointed at Australian model George Lazenby, who had even less experience in the movie business than Connery when he had been selected in the role. 

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In one way, this worked well. Lazenby’s sole contribution in the role was “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969), which is actually one of the better Bond movies, and he’s by no means bad in the role. In another, more significant way, casting someone who wasn’t a seasoned pro may have been a mistake when it comes to continuity. Lazenby openly disliked the experience of making the movie and didn’t continue as Bond, effectively disappearing from Hollywood after this one major role. Connery ended up returning in the Eon Productions fold to play Bond in 1971’s “Diamonds Are Forever.” 

Until Daniel Craig’s incarnation came along much later, Timothy Dalton’s James Bond was the only 007 who was a truly believable killer. Instead of the joke-flinging, suave action hero antics, Dalton opted for a comparatively realistic and brutal version of the character who required a very specific type of film to truly work. Unfortunately, he never got one. The light-hearted “The Living Daylights” (1987) and the somewhat forgettable installment “License to Kill” (1989) remain Dalton’s only Bond films, putting him one ahead of Lazenby but leaving him a movie or two short of the kind of legacy he would have deserved.

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Interestingly, in some other reality, Dalton might’ve received another shot in the role. Among the assorted scripts for potential continuation of Dalton’s 007 story was a canceled James Bond film called “Reunion with Death,” which would have sent Bond on his first mission to Japan since Sean Connery’s “You Only Live Twice,” and even bore connections to that film. Of course, nothing ever came of it, and James Bond was left sipping Martinis on the sidelines until Pierce Brosnan took over the role.

Pierce Brosnan’s mid-1990s arrival as James Bond marked a shift back to the series’ bombastic action adventure sensibilities after Timothy Dalton’s more muted late-1980s tenure. Brosnan delivered a performance that was simultaneously both a “greatest hits” collection of 007 traits and still wholly his own take on the character. Brosnan’s Bond has charm, wit, and genuine toughness, and the incarnation proved durable enough to star in four films. 

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As James Bond movies go, Brosnan’s tenure spawned at least one certifiable gem. “GoldenEye” (1995) was and remains nothing short of a masterpiece that’s memorable for — among other things — its assortment of amazing action scenes and Sean Bean’s brilliantly villainous rogue agent, Alec “006” Trevelyan. “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), “The World Is Not Enough” (1999), and especially the abysmal “Die Another Day” (2002) all failed to replicate the thrills, but they nevertheless have plenty of enjoyable moments, and there’s little denying that Brosnan more than held his own as a Bond actor. 

Daniel Craig has maintained a healthy non-Bond career for much of his 007 tenure and threatened to quit so many times that it’s hard to keep count, but he nevertheless made no less than five (mostly) impressive Bond movies before closing the file on this particular incarnation of the secret agent rather conclusively. The first of Craig’s movies was of course “Casino Royale” (2006), which may very well be the best Bond film ever made. It all but wiped its 1967 namesake out of the history books by delivering a thrilling new 007, a female lead unlike any other in Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), and one of the greatest James Bond villains ever in Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre. 

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As with Pierce Brosnan, the stellar opening act proved tough to follow. “Quantum of Solace” (2008), “Spectre” (2015), and “No Time to Die” (2021) are all noticeably weaker offerings than Craig’s amazing Bond debut, with only “Skyfall” (2012) coming close in terms of quality. Still, on the whole, a very decent argument could be made that Craig’s James Bond movies have been the most consistent of the lot, which is saying something since he’s one of the three most prolific Bond actors. 

Ah, yes, Sean Connery. The first and, to many, best James Bond actor started his work in “Dr. No” (1962), and the film’s success spawned five Connery-led sequels: “From Russia with Love” (1963), “Goldfinger” (1964), “Thunderball” (1965), “You Only Live Twice,” and his post-Lazenby film “Diamonds Are Forever.” That’s six Eon Productions Bond movies in under a decade, many of which are in the discussion whenever best James Bond movies are named. 

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Connery also has a seventh Bond film to his name. In 1983 — the year “Octopussy” premiered — Roger Moore was already deep into his tenure as 007 when the original Bond returned to do what David Niven had done to him in 1967: Make a competing, non-Eon James Bond movie, portraying an older Bond in his final mission. Connery’s final James Bond film is called “Never Say Never Again,” and it’s effectively an inferior remix of “Thunderball,” which itself is far from the finest 007 film out there. Nevertheless, this non-Eon appearance leaves Connery with a commendable grand total of seven appearances in James Bond movies, which would be more than enough to win … if it wasn’t for the fact that one Bond actor has seven full-on Eon Bond roles under his tuxedo belt. 

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Sean Connery might be many James Bond fans’ choice for the best 007, but Roger Moore has him beat as the most prolific one … though it’s by mere inches. Moore’s distinguished, yet comparatively light-hearted take on the character debuted in “Live and Let Die” (1973), and went to play the role until “A View to A Kill” (1985). Between these two movies were “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974), “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “Moonraker” (1979), “For Your Eyes Only” (1981), and “Octopussy” (1983), which gives Moore’s version of Bond a grand total of seven movies — the same number as Connery, but since Moore’s films are all Eon movies, he wins on a technicality. 

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Unlike many of his Bond colleagues, Moore never turned his 007 fame into a massive film career after exiting the franchise. While he didn’t stop acting after “Octopussy” by any means, the actor has been more likely to appear in cameo roles and supporting turns in films like the 1996 Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts movie “The Quest” than the kind of blockbusters and beloved ensemble films folks like Connery and Daniel Craig have become known for. Of course, it’s worth noting that his lack of screen presence may have had quite a bit to do with the fact that Moore retired from James Bond films at the late age of 58 — not to mention his utter dedication to his role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a role in which he served from 1991 to 2018. 

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