Henry Cavill’s James Bond Audition Tape Is Proof That He Could Still Be a Great 007

While we’re all wringing our hands about the identity of the next Casino Royale.

Cavill’s lines recreate the first meeting between Bond, then played by Famke Janssen, with her lines delivered by an unidentified off-screen performer in the clip. Cavill puts a slightly different spin on each of his readings, sometimes hitting a line with more menace, and sometimes playing up the flirtation when Bond says he likes “a woman who pulls rank.”

But the most notable thing about Cavill’s delivery is his quietness, almost softness. The then-22-year-old actor seems to whisper his lines and arch his eyes with interest while listening to Xenia speak. Even when he delivers Bond’s signature veiled threats and double-entendres, there’s a surprising earnestness we’ve never before seen in 007. Watch the audition tape below:

Henry Cavill’s screen test for James Bond in 2006 has been released. pic.twitter.com/O0SOxOoza3

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 7, 2025

This might all sound anathema to most fans, but we have to that Cavill was auditioning not to play the Bonds of GoldenEye, From Russia With Love, or Live and Let Die. He was auditioning to play the young Bond of Casino Royale, a Bond who still had the ability to fall in love with Vesper Lynd (Timothy Dalton. He wasn’t yet comfortable with his license to kill.

With that in mind, it makes sense that Cavill could have been the favorite of director Martin Campbell. Yet, even today, it’s hard to disagree with Eon Productions’ final choice of Daniel Craig, a man who can play the soulfulness foregrounded by Cavill, while still retaining the edge that people usually associate with Bond.

Fortunately, Cavill got the chance to play a superspy later in his career. The actor’s suave CIA agent Napoleon Solo in Argylle, a movie that doesn’t really make much sense, but does feature Cavill as a Bond-style super-agent. Who has a flattop, for some reason.

Even more than the screen test, these roles prove that Cavill can play Bond. Given that Craig has hung up his Walther PPK after No Time to Die, maybe Eon will circle back around to Cavill, just like they did when they cast Brosnan for GoldenEye after failing to get him for The Living Daylights. If they do, perhaps Cavill can revive the sweetness and softness on display in the screentest, making him a truly unique version of 007.

As far as how Cavill feels about playing the next Bond, he told The Rich Eisen Show last year, “Maybe I’m too old now, maybe I’m not. It’s up to Barbara Broccoli and Mike Wilson and we’ll see what their plans are.” Sounds like the 41-year-old actor is still interested…