- Sienna Miller, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, US-Czech Republic, 2008. The Ukrainian born model and actress passed on Baroness Ana, to win James Bond in Quantum of Solace that year. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers skewered this latest example of Hollywood’s crazy toys-as-source-material movies: “I don’t know what to say about the acting, writing and directing… because I couldn’t find any.”
- Jessica Biel, The A Team, 2009. Bond Girl for an A Team Lass… I think not. Lucky for her. The Guardian’s critic Ben Child called the film version ofthe TV series “about as authentic as a Turin shroud beach towel.”
- Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia, Denmark-Sweden-France-Germany, 2010. Newsflash! The bizarre Danish director Lars von Trier watches James Bond… Result: 007’s favourite Ukrainian was one of Dane’s early ideas for his leading lady.
- Tamsin Egerton, The Lovers, 2014. Tasmin’s role in Eragon, 2005, finished on the famous cutingroom hooks but the beauteous British blonde kept making an impact – from Guinevere TV’s Camelot to Chelsea in the St Trinian’s re-treads. Even so, Neve Campbell was UK director Roland Joffé’s first idea to replace the suddenly absent Olga (off working for Terence Malick) in his impossible love story across two continents and time periods: 1778 and 2015. Campbell proved pregnant and so, enter the Hampshire blonde with the actual family name of Dick. The nadir of UK director Joffé’s career was originally called… Singularity (!) There was even one character named Egerton. And the circa 1778 hero was called… James Stewart!
- Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman, 2015. On Warner shelves for a full decade (not helped by David Kelley’s disastrous 2011 TVersion), spinning through numerous directors, the demi-goddess daughter of Zeus, eventually became the Israeli Gadot. “Very different,” she said, “from the experienced, super-confident, grown-up woman” she’d teaser-trailed that year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2015. Her rivals for the DC Extended Universe included Mischa Barton, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Rachel Bilson, Sandra Bullock in 2001 (and for the 2011 tele-film), Bollywood’s Priyanka Chopra in 2006, US wrestling star Chyna, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Eva Green, Mad Men’s busty Christina Hendricks (Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 choice), Angelina Jolie in 2001 (ten years later she was asked to direct), Cobie Smulders (WW’s voice in The Lego Movie, 2013), Kristen Stewart. The final trio, auditioning in November 2013, were Olga Kurylenko, Elodie Yung and… Gadot.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 5