How Kiwi star Sam Neill almost played James Bond

Sam Neill's audition tape for the role of James Bond. Photo / YouTube

He found fame in Jurassic Park and later Hunt for the Wilderpeople but Kiwi star Sam Neill could have been known as the world's most famous spy: James Bond - except he didn't want the role.

Speaking to ABC News, Neill revealed that his agent at the time "shoved" him into a "really embarrassing test."

"It was one of the most mortifying times of my life, because I really didn't want to play James Bond."

This was in the mid 80s, when Roger Moore had signed off from the franchise with A View To A Kill, his seventh Bond role.

At the time Neill had starred alongside Mel Gibson in Attack Force Z and The Final Conflict - a sequel to cult classic The Omen.

Despite his reservations about being the next Bond, Neill did audition for the role.

His audition tape shows a young Neill, gun in hand, entering a bedroom to find a woman in a bed, naked and covering herself with a sheet. The reel features Neill saying: "My friends call me Bond. James Bond."

While Neill wasn't called up for the role, he has recently offered some recommendations for the Bond that should succeed Daniel Craig.

The Kiwi star reckons Australian actor Rob Collins would be a fitting candidate for the role. Colins is best known for local shows Cleverman, Glitch and Total Control.

Sam Neill has suggested Rob Collins as the next James Bond. Photo / Getty Images

"He's so good looking, he's charismatic, he can jump buildings. You know, there's nothing he can't do," Neill said.

"Don't you think he'd be good?"

Meanwhile the first trailer 25th instalment of James Bond has landed, reportedly sending fans into a frenzy.