Which long-term Bond...Connery, Moore, Brosnan or Craig, aged better in their first 5-7 years?

edited October 2012 in Actors Posts: 224
If you look at Sean from 1962-67, Rog from 1973-79, Pierce from 1995-2002 and Daniel from 2005-12, who aged the best?

In my opinion, Daniel has aged best. Honestly, I don't see any signs of aging in Daniel since 2005. Maybe I'm not seeing something. I recall the quote from Roger saying, "God is wise. He gives us more wrinkles at the same time that our eyesight gets worse."

I would rank from best to worst in aging in their first 5-7 years in the role as follows:
1. Daniel
2. Roger
3. Sean
4. Pierce.

What do you think?
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Comments

  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Connery was fine from 62 to 67 although by 67 he had gained some weight.

    Moore was fine up until Moonraker but then really started to look long in the tooth in FYEO.

    Brosnan IMO had the most dramatic change. He looked heavier and much older fron GE to TND alone. By TWINE he looked to be in better shape but by DAD he was looking oldish.

    With Craig, he's fortunate in that he's looked stone harsh for most if his adult life. Craig has a much more active approach in the role and maybe that helps too but other than looking leaner and more cut, I agree that Craig has aged the best.
  • cwl007cwl007 England
    Posts: 611
    I agree Daniel Craig has probably aged the best, although would put Brosnan in second place. By the time Moonraker came around Sir Roger was still looking good but had certainly aged. I always think what happened shortly after the time frames you have put down is interesting. In Octopussy Roger Moore still looked the part, but by the time A View To A Kill was released just 2 years later he had aged incredibly. Also how different Connery looked between You Only Live Twice and the lamentable Diamonds are Forever was breathtaking in just 4 years. Q looked younger!
  • Out of the long term Bonds, I'd say Connery. From DN to YOLT, I couldn't see much change at all. But then he aged (and got fat) quickly before DAF.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Connery was lucky in that he started at 32 and the majority of his films were released annually.
  • edited October 2012 Posts: 1,548
    To me Lazenby aged throughout OHMSS!
  • Tricky because Roger looks more or less the same in LALD & TMWTGG- and a bit older in TSWLM & MR & FYEO- but then much more different in OP and finally crosses the line in AVTAK.
    Connery also looked pretty much the same in his first 3 I'd say-- only in DAF did he seem to be not in 'Bond shape'
    Brosnan looks noticeably different in each of his outings, yet never looked 'too old'. Different- yet never looked 'worse'. That's what I call aging well-- so I'm gonna vote for Brosnan! :-bd
  • Brosnan looks noticeably different in each of his outings, yet never looked 'too old'. Different- yet never looked 'worse'. That's what I call aging well-- so I'm gonna vote for Brosnan! :-bd

    I think I prefer how Brosnan looks in his later films to how he looks in GE.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,034
    Brozza looked just right in TND. He was a bit too light on GE even though he was still very believable, and had maybe too much weight on him in DAD.

    Roger seemed to just lose it after TSWLM, he just didn't look in shape to me.

    Craig has aged a bit since, but I still think he looks rather good now.

    Connery definitely aged the best out of all of them.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Definitely not Sean or Roger. Sean wasn't his DAF self in 67, but he was still a little out of it. Roger, don't get me started...Pierce didn't look like his GE self in 2002, no, but he wasn't aging as bad as we had previously seen, and is still a suave looking guy. I think Dan aged the best. He has retained his health and is even more fit than he was in 2005, and though he has aged it is a more mature aging, and perfect for his Bond turning rookie to veteran as the films go on.

    So:
    1) Dan
    2) Pierce
    3) Sean
    4) Roger
  • Posts: 158
    Daniel Craig looked craggy from the start, so for him, aging is less noticable, but wait until he is in his fifties and then compare! Roger Moore had boyish good looks, so aging was always going to show when it set in. Who would really think he was in his early fifties in Spy or Moonraker, unless you knew his age? As has been said, male menopause set in for Connery between YOLT and DAF. Some men can age ten or fifteen years in just a few years, Connery was a good example.
  • edited October 2012 Posts: 1,310
    Roger, don't get me started...
    I thought Sir Rog looked good in the role all the way up to Moonraker. To me he didn't start to look alarmingly old until FYEO. And then after that, well...

    Danny boy is still in great shape, although he has noticeably aged since CR. But as @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 pointed out, it connects very well with Craig's Bond maturing as an agent.

    Pierce looked great in his first three movies, but from TWINE to DAD there was quite a difference. I'm pretty sure it was his weight though, because THIS picture is from 2002 and he looks a helluva lot better than he did in DAD.

    Sean. Oh Sean. He looked great from DN to TB. And then in YOLT he looked...well, a little less so, but still decent. And DAF? Well...I just can't even bring myself to explain that one.

    So when all is said and done based on their first 5-7 years only:
    1. Danny
    2. Roger
    3. Pierce
    4. Sean

    But during their whole Bond tenure:
    1. Danny
    2. Pierce
    3. Sean
    4. Roger

    As a side note, Timothy Dalton still looked like Bond well into the 90s, and George could have easily played Bond into the late 70s.

    Timothy Dalton in 1994 (Scarlett)
    George Lazenby in 1977 (The Kentucky Fried Movie)
  • KerimKerim Istanbul Not Constantinople
    Posts: 2,629
    Strictly at the the 6 year mark.

    1. Craig
    2. Brosnan
    3. Moore
    4. Connery
  • I find that weight gain ages people tremendously, especially when you can see it in their face - such as Sean in DAF. But even in TB I thought that Sean started to look "different", and then by YOLT he was looking like he had aged a lot. I think that his new style toupee in TB and YOLT didn't do him any favours but I think the creeping weight gain is what hurt him the most.

    I think that Moore probably aged the best - he looked older but still good as time went on. I think that Craig has aged the least - his eyes look a little older but that's it (seeing him with a less severe haircut also softens him a bit).

    Agreed on Dalton - slap a good toupee on him and he could probably play Bond now!
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    I gotta go with Craig as well as aging the best so far in 7 years.... yeah yeah yeah, he has an old face - big deal - in this case though i think that benefits him... the only thing that has changed over that time, has been his hair... keep it short Danny ;)

    Moore would be my second believe it or not.. from LALD thru to MR, he still looked pretty good.. maybe much like Craig it has to do with the hair? lol - because once he changed it in FYEO and on, he seemed to look older.. and sadly age wasn't kind to Rog between FYEO to AVTAK... he still looked alright in OP, but it looked like he aged 10 years between that and AVTAK..

    Connery is third.. you can't just judge him by the films, simply because they did those back to back to back - what was it like, 5 films in 6 years?.... but if you look at Connery in Dr. No, and juxtaposition that with him in either YOLT or DAF, then you'll see a noticeable difference..

    Pierce is 4th, he started looking old to me in TWINE.... i'd hate to constantly go back to hair, but i can't friggin' escape it lol... once he started chopping his for his last 2 films, he started looking older IMO.. i always liked him with slightly longer hair like in GE or even better in TND, where it looked perfect..... ok - enough about the stupid hair..... in TWINE though, the lines were starting to show through a little more on his face, and they got a little worse in DAD.. granted he still looked good - but nothing like he did in GE or TND... he seemed weathered by the time DAD rolled around.
  • I think Connery aged well until and including Thunderball. In YOLT, I always thought it was a major change (though maybe because he gained weight).

    Roger, if you think about how old he actually was when he began with Bond, really aged well. It started to show in FYEO and only really was felt when Octopussy arrived.

    I also think that Brosnan aged really well. I think his looks just got better with each film actually. There is much wrong with DAD...but it isn't Pierce.

    That said, Daniel aged well too. Can't say who takes the crown but I am almost tempted to say Roger...
  • edited October 2012 Posts: 12,837
    I think Craig looks older than he is in SF, because of his new hair and his beard.

    I swear Dalton didn't age for years. I saw a photo of him from the 70s and he looked the same as he did in TLD.

    But long term Bonds, I still think Connery aged the best in his first 5 years. From DN to YOLT I could barely see the difference.
  • I think Craig looks older than he is in SF, because of his new hair and his beard.

    I swear Dalton didn't age for years. I saw a photo of him from the 70s and he looked the same as he did in TLD.

    But long term Bonds, I still think Connery aged the best in his first 5 years. From DN to YOLT I could barely see the difference.

    I still think that Connery looks quite a bit different in YOLT. I remember reading that he was bragging in an interview for TB that he could eat anything he wanted and his "metabolism just burns it off". Then when he showed up for YOLT 2 years later he had gained 20 pounds!

    It's amazing how little Dalton aged. Oh, to have his bone structure...If he hadn't been losing his hair he'd look like he was 50 at the most.

    I just saw the clip with Pierce from the EON documentary and was shocked at how much older he looked. I should have realized that of course he's going to look better in a feature film with the lighting and makeup etc all working to make him look as good as possible. I mean, he still looks amazingly handsome but wow does he look older!

  • Brosnan didn't really age between GE and TND, but he did change (in a good way I think). In GE, he still looked like a bit like 80s Remington Steele Brosnan, but then in TND he suddenly looked like what I think is Bond Brosnan.

    He's aged a bit since DAD but I think he still looks really good for his age, he's pushing 60 after all.
  • Posts: 74
    BondBug wrote:
    male menopause

    :D

    Craig has aged a bit since CR, I even thought he had aged a little in QoS but the thing is as people have said, he did have craggy features from the start and he looked 'older' anyway. In certain shots, Craig looks younger and in others he looks visibly older. I thought he should have kept his quiff hairstyle and not the side parting. I know it's meant to make him look more distinguished perhaps but the former suits him.

    I thought Brosnan aged a lot actually between GE and TND. He didn't look old as such in TND, just visibly older.

    Connery started to really age with DAF and Moore had completely lost it with A View to a Chill err I mean Kill.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    The great thing about Dan that he has rough looks, and that makes it appear like his Bond has seen things, that he has the marks of a soldier, and that there is something more behind the blue eyes.
  • It's getting late so this will be enough but I went with Craig straight away, of course we have yet to see the Skyfall finished article, but we have seen Craig during production and he seems as hungry and able as his 2006 debut, six years ago now, he could well, at 44 years of age, go on to play Bond until his 50th year, it's perfectly feasible

    Connery have had aged alarmingly from From Russia With Love to You Only Live Twice and that was in a shorter time period

    Moore had aged noticeably by the time of For Your Eyes Only, but was still just about plausible and the film was a success

    Dalton, not much difference to be had for his two appearances in the 1980s

    Lazenby can't be included in this

    Brosnan, actually, by 1997, seemed to have aged more than the two years since Goldeneye, and by 2002, it seemed such a rapid age increase and the man was a pale imitation of his all action figure of 1995

    Connery should of quit in 1965, Moore in 1981, Brosnan in 1999 and Craig I feel, if he continues to look after himself can continue for another two releases at the minimum I truly feel

    Goodnight
  • Posts: 90
    George Lazenby was still looking good in 'The Return Of The Man from Uncle' in 1983 - 14 years after OHMSS. Could have continued to the late 1980's. Still in George's case - 'You can lead a horse to water but......'
  • I'd say Connery certainly aged better, essentially he lost his hair, but he donned wigs - and he has been gifted with good genes so that he looks great in physique as he has grown older, and he has always worn a suit well. Connery did go a tad out of shape for his later Bond films - but he still looked great, and he seemed to even retaliate against that by getting into great shape for his age in Never Say Never Again.

    Craig has also aged well - his fitness and physique is exemplary - though has he grows older he is becoming more craggy lol he still is a good looking smart chap.

    I'd put Moore and Brosnan on equal footing for last place in the longest serving Bonds - not because they aged badly - but rather because Moore did perhaps one movie too many and doesn't quite cut the fitness of Bond by todays standards - and for Brosnan the production standards seemed to slip in my opinion, especially for DAD - Brosnan should have been styled better, more coifered as Connery was, and been told to get fitter for the role.
  • Posts: 278
    Sorry guys, can't agree on this. Forgetting those Bonds that never lasted 6/7 years.
    Think relative to the age.

    Connery was 32 when he did DN and he actually looked a lot older (as most people did in the 60's). By the time he did YOLT he had his own issues with Bond and basically probably didnt really care what he looked like. Look what happened in NSNA when he was obviously bothered, he looked superb.

    Roger was 45/46 for LALD and you'd expect him to age considerably over the next 7 years yet IMO he looked pretty good right up until FYEO when they decided to change his hairstyle, but even then his age was only something you really noted for OCT. I hope I look as good as Sir Rog when I'm 53.

    Brosnan was 42 when he did GEYE and still looked pretty impressive in 2002 for DAD when he was 49.

    Craig was only 38 when he did CR, therefore I'd expect him to actually age less in those 6 years since, although he is helped by actually being extremely fit which only helps. Still good though.

    I'd be interested in having the same conversation when he is 50 to see if people stil lthink he's aged better than the others.

    Talking of aging, I always compare how I look in comparison to what I call the 3 stage of Connery years. TB, YOLT and DAF.
    If I'm feeling fit, its TB, if I'm feeling like I have a few extra pounds and I need to up the cardio training a little then its YOLT and thankfully, I've managed to keep away from the DAF years so far :)
  • Posts: 546
    1.Sean Connery
    2.Pierce Brosnan
    3.Daniel Craig
    4.Sir Roger Moore
  • 1. Moore. Man was 46 when he started and still looked good for the role 5-7 years later.
    2. Craig. A bit less hair, but he still doesn't look all that different from Casino Royale.
    3. Brosnan. Probably the least remarkable aging. No real dramatic changes, just some shorter, grayer hair and a few more wrinkles.
    4. Connery. He barely aged at all through Goldfinger, but then the new toupe hit in Thunderball, then some weight gain in You Only Live Twice, and come Diamonds are Forever he looked terrible. But as fate would have it, he rebounded in his fifties and won sexiest man of the year at age 59. How does he do it?
  • Aziz_FekkeshAziz_Fekkesh Royale-les-Eaux
    Posts: 403
    I think Connery was the worst. Even in TB he looked heftier to me (still the best Bond performance ever though). By YOLT and DAF he was done.

    Craig looks a lot older since CR, I think. Maybe it's the haircut and the active role he takes in the role.

    Moore was ok. TSWLM on he looked a lot different from when he started in LaLD.

    I think Brosnan ('95- '02) actually aged the best. Between GE and TND he just got a haircut, whereas even in DAD he didn't look too shaby (except for grey hairs and a big gut).

    Dalton looks amazing to this day and Laz has aged gracefully, I suppose.
  • Posts: 5,634
    Connery aged very rapidly from Goldfinger to You Only Live Twice, and this was only a gap of three years. Even after From Russia With Love to Goldfinger, he looks noticeably older than the one year. Moore still looked good all the way up to Moonraker, and even then, the age only seemed to have become more tangible by For Your Eyes Only, he did a very good release that year, with a minimum on the usual humor. Craig still looks the part even now, some six or seven years after his Bond debut. Brosnan also, had aged significantly by his last appearance, and with it, was also out of shape for the most part. All said, it has to be Craig who has aged the best out of all the names presented
  • edited March 2013 Posts: 4,622
    I thought Connery and Laz both looked perfect as young prime-age Bonds in the '60s. Connery by DAF had achieved a mature Bond look. In fact he looked real old for 40. I guess it was the times. Young fit actors nowadays just breeze through their '40s.
    Craig I think aged the worst. He looks every bit his 44 years in SF. Rog ideally should have been retired after MR. He was 53 shooting FYEO. I thought he moved like an ox in that film. Oddly he seemed to move better in OP. Wisely the producers downplayed any romantic entanglement with the much younger Melina, until the very end of the film. A younger Bond actor though, such as Dalton I think, would have played much more convincingly off of Melina, and Dalts was right in his prime Bond-age wheelhouse at the time. Dalts ideally should have carried all 5 80's films.
    Broz, I think held it together age-wise for all 4 of his films. He was retired right on time at age 49, which I think should be the maximum age for any Bond actor. Exception to Sean Connery of course, who blows the rest of them out of the water, at any age.
  • Posts: 5,634
    and remember how long it took Moore to climb to the summit of that abandoned monastery at Saint Cyrils in For Your Eyes Only. You think the film will go on for as long as Ben Hur, before Moore finally manages it to the top. Maybe a younger Bond could of done things a little quicker. Moore seemed to move quicker in Octopussy due to the bevy of beauties that were on display that year. No surprise he slowed down once again for his View to a Kill swansong, when all that was on offer was Grace Jones and a pasty-faced Tanya Roberts. Moore just took his time with that one
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