Actors considered to play Bond in this movie

Sam Neill - Was given screentest, Michael G. Wilson and some of the other producers thought he did well in the part, but Cubby wasn't sold on him. Neill himself said that he did not want to play the part

Pierce Brosnan - Was cast in the role after a screentest, but his show Remmington Steele was renewed and had to pull out. He would go on to play Bond from 1995 to 2002

Mel Gibson - Despite being American, Gibson grew up in Australi, there are some conflicting reports about him being Bond, like he turned down the role, or that Cubby didn't want him because he was too short

Christopher Lambert - Was said to have been director John Glen's first choice for the role but his French accent prevented him from getting the part

Finlay Light - The unknown Australian actor tested for the role and came close to signing a ten year contract but lost out to Dalton and turned his back on fame

Antony Hamilton - Was considered however Cubby was hesitant on casting him as the womanizing secret agent because of Hamilton's apparent homosexuality

Sean Bean - Was considered for this and also Goldeneye before playing the villainous 006 in that movie

Andrew Clarke - He screen-tested for Bond when Broccoli was on his mid-eighties Aussie actor kick, but didn’t get the role. A stab at international stardom came when he played Simon Templar (ironically, a role made famous by Roger Moore) in CBS’ reboot of the classic sixties programme, The Saint, with the 1987 telemovie, The Saint In Manhattan, but he never made the big leagues. He seems to have some resemblance to George Lazenby

Mark Greenstreet - Confirmed on Terry Wogan's chat show that he tested for the role but felt that his age, 26 was a factor in losing the role

Simon McCorkindale - was linked to the part of Bond many times and even Roger Moore named him as a possible successor. MacCorkindale was 34 at the time. He had a habit of booming his lines too loudly but all the same he seemed like a contender.

Marcus Gilbert - had said that he was contacted twice by the James Bond people in 1986 to discuss the part but lost out in the end to Timothy Dalton

Lambert Wilson - another French actor, was also in contention. He was in his late twenties and acted with Sean Connery in the 1982 film Five Days One Summer. Wilson screen tested for The Living Daylights, appearing in test footage opposite Maryam d'Abo as Tatiana Romanova, re-enacting scenes from From Russia with Love. Wilson's better English and (to be frank) better acting presumably made him a more serious contender than Christophe Lambert.

Robert Bathrust - claims he tested to play Bond for The Living Daylights but suspected it was only to put pressure on Timothy Dalton to make a decision. It's hard to imagine he was a serious contender. Bathurst was about 30 at the time and had mostly appeared in comedy shows. "Oh, that was such a ludicrous audition,"

Those who weren’t considered were Michael Billington, David Warbeck, James Brolin, Oliver Tobias, Lewis Collins, and Ian Ogilvy. Collins was only considered once and Brocolli closed the door on him ever since. Brolin, Billington, Ogilvy and Warbeck were too old than the producers were looking for, all were in their mid-to-late 40s, and the real candidates were in their late 20s-early 40s