Daniel Craig may have been the longest-serving James Bond actor in history but, according to bookies, he’s not the most desirable.
The nation has spoken and deemed Pierce Brosnan the most desired 007 of all time based on a few factors like social media popularity, attractiveness and even facial composition according to research conducted by Betway.
Of course, Brosnan, 71, is one of the most recognisable Bonds of modern times having starred in four blockbuster movies in the franchise between 1995 and 2002. His final instalment, Die Another Day, grossed a staggering $431million (£324million) at the box office.
Even with Craig’s lengthy tenure as Bond – 15 years, to be precise – Brosnan still notches up an impressive annual search volume of almost three million and an attractiveness rating of eight out of 10.
Brosnan’s social media presence is also hot property, boosting his attractiveness rating with 2.1million followers. His selection of four Bond movies may not have the highest ratings of them all but they still score above average at 6.6/10 on IMDb.
Following behind as the second most desired Bond is the late Sir Sean Connery, who starred in a whopping seven movies for over 20 years. He boasts an attractiveness rating of 7.6/10 and, while his social media following pales in comparison to Brosnan’s, he still boasts 43,000 fans across platforms.
His iconic films, which include Goldfinger and From Russia With Love, have an average star rating of 7/10.
Alas, Craig has managed to sneak into a top spot at number three; the most recent Bond holds the record for the most Reddit mention (16,018) and the highest overall film star rating of 7.3 out of 10. The 56-year-old played the British spy in five movies, including Skyfall, Casino Royale and his last appearance in 2021’s No Time to Die.
Coincidentally, it was recently the third anniversary of Craig’s final film as Bond, which had been significantly delayed due to the Covid pandemic at the time.
Barry Nelson, who was the first actor to play Bond in a 1954 TV adaptation of Casino Royale, ranks third for the highest attractiveness rating with an impressive 7.4 while George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton both scored 6.7/10 for the IMDb star ratings.
The spot for Bond is currently vacant with studio bosses yet to announce which actor will replace Craig.
Hollywood heartthrobs such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 34, and Theo James, 39, are among the favourites to snag the coveted role, but it was recently said that it could be two years before we learn who has been signed up.
According to industry experts, we’re looking at 2026 ‘at the earliest’ so we may just have to keep reminiscing about Bonds gone by to keep us warm.
This article was originally published on September 23, 2024.