Sam Neill was left red-faced as an old footage of his James Bond audition was resurfaced.
Prior to the 1986 film The Living Daylights, the star of Jurassic Park auditioned for the role of the renowned secret agent.
Although the role ultimately went to Timothy Dalton, a number of prominent celebrities, including Sam, auditioned for the part.
Today, the actor has been astonished by his audition video, which was broadcast live during an interview.
Sam, 75, appeared on the Today show to discuss his new book when anchor Brooke Boney played the film of the actor entering a room with his shirt undone and a revolver in his hand.
Sam tells a lady who looks to be half-naked and reclining on what appears to be a hotel bed, “My friends call me Bond.” Bond, James’
Sam was noticeably embarrassed by the nearly-40-year-old tape and even put his hand over his face in humiliation, sarcastically telling the host that it was’so cruel to play that.’
Yet, he said that in the end, he was relieved he didn’t win the part because he didn’t want to be the actor who messed it up.
Of course, things worked out for Sam in the end, as he landed the main part in another absolute behemoth of a series, Jurassic Park, a few years later.
Sam appeared in the 1993 smash-hit with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, and recently returned for the 2023 Jurassic World spin-off decades after they escaped from the park.
The famed actor recently stated that he was having chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage three blood cancer.
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople star was diagnosed with the condition after having swollen glands during Jurassic World Dominion press last March.
While he is now cancer-free, it is believed that he will undergo monthly therapy for the remainder of his life. During treatment, he authored his new memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?
Luckily, the actor has already provided another update on his health, assuring his worried fans that he is ‘healthy.’
In a post posted to Instagram on Saturday, he said: ‘My news is all over the news at the moment, and it’s sort of [like], “Cancer, cancer cancer” and it’s slightly tiresome because as you see, I’m alive and well.
‘I have been in remission for eight months, which feels really good. And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work.’
