Since Dr. No introduced the suave British spy to moviegoers in 1962, the James Bond movie series has featured many talented Oscar-winning actors who contributed immensely to the franchise’s resounding success. As one franchise that has stood the test of time, James Bond films have garnered numerous award nominations and wins, including two Oscars won by Norman Wanstall and John Stears for their behind-the-camera roles in Goldfinger and Thunderball. Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die have also scooped Academy Awards in various categories.
Despite maintaining successful award-winning careers, no actor who appeared in James Bond movies has won an Oscar for a performance in the franchise. Another surprise is the absence of Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney on the list. The former remarkably played Gareth Mallory / M alongside David Craig‘s Bond in Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die but gained no award recognition for the role. Nevertheless, Fiennes and Finney are both Academy Award nominees in the Best Actor category for their performances in other films. Explore this list of Oscar-winning actors who appeared in 007 movies.
1 Christopher Walken
Best Supporting Actor, ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978)
Christopher Walken began acting as a child star during the first Golden Age of Television. Walken has appeared in over 140 movies and TV shows in a career of over seven decades with no sign of slowing down. Among his notable film credits is playing the villain Max Zorin in the 1985 Bond film A View to a Kill. Overall, Walken is an acting legend with impressive stage and screen credits. He is widely known for his roles in films such as The Deer Hunter, Catch Me If You Can, The Prophecy, and Hairspray.
His illustrious career rightly boasts several accolades, including an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his depiction of Nick Chevotarevich, a troubled war veteran in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter. He has also won a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, alongside Tony Awards and Primetime Awards nominations. Walken is revered among the greatest movie stars of all time with his films grossing over $1.6 billion in the United States.
2 Sean Connery
Best Supporting Actor, ‘The Untouchables’ (1987)
As the first actor to portray James Bond, Sean Connery became a perfect model for his successors in the hugely successful franchise. Between 1962 and 1983, Connery played 007 in seven James Bond films, including Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds Are Forever. Before handing the reins to Roger Moore for good, Connery played Bond one last time in the non-Eon-produced 1983 spy film Never Say Never Again.
Beyond the globally acclaimed Bond franchise, the Scottish actor gained acclaim for other film credits such as The Rock, Dragonheart, The Name of the Rose, and The Untouchables. For his performance in the latter, Connery won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award in the Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture category. He recorded 95 acting credits before he died in 2020 at 90. Before his final bow, Connery left a legacy for the ages and received numerous honorary awards, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1987 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 1998. He was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.
3 Benicio del Toro
Best Supporting Actor, ‘Traffic’ (2000)
Benicio del Toro is a chamelonic, universally acclaimed Puerto Rican-born Spanish actor who’s appeared in critical darlings like The Usual Suspects and The French Dispatch as well as box-office juggernauts like Star Wars: Episode VIII- The Last Jedi and Sin City.
Del Toro won an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe, BAFTA Award and Silver Bear for his portrayal of a gritty cop in Steven Soderbergh‘s sprawling drug drama Traffic. Over a decade before, he appeared as cutthroat henchman Dario. It’s a captivating early performance; the actor can appear dashing and positively demonic within the same scene. It’s really quite something to see the way the actor can work lighting to such disparate effects.
4 Judi Dench
Best Supporting Actress, ‘Shakespeare in Love’ (1998)
Judi Dench began her professional acting journey in 1957 with the Old Vic Company and established an illustrious stage career before branching off to the screen. Dench is renowned as one of the greatest British actors for her versatile work in the theater, film, and television. Her film career rose to international recognition when she began playing M in the James Bond movie series, starting with 1995’s GoldenEye. Dench reprised the role in eight Bond films, concluding her run in the franchise’s Spectre, released in 2015.
Dench is one of the most enduring stars in the James Bond franchise, having worked with various Bond actors. However, she didn’t win any Academy Awards for those appearances. Dench won her first Oscar in 1998 in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Shakespeare in Love. After several appearances in the Bond franchise, Dench’s performance in Spectre received attention from award bodies as she earned several nominations for the role, winning the Georgia Film Critics Association’s Best Supporting Actress in 2012.
5 Halle Berry
Best Actress, ‘Monster’s Ball’ (2001)
From modeling to acting, Halle Berry has achieved great things in the entertainment industry. She began her journey as a model, emerging as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and sixth in the Miss World in 1986. As an actress, she gained wide recognition for playing Bond girl Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day alongside Pierce Brosnan in his final outing as 007. Her performance earned an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
Berry has made other notable appearances in films such as Boomerang, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Gothika, Swordfish, Monster’s Ball, and Catwoman. For her depiction of Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball, Berry became the first African-American woman to win the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards in 2001. She also won several other awards and nominations for the role, including Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Best Actress at the BET Awards. Berry notably played Storm in four installments of the X-Menfilm series from 2000 to 2014.
6 Javier Bardem
Best Supporting Actor, ‘No Country For Old Men’ (2007)
Javier Barden has redefined versatility in his career of over three decades. From crime to romantic comedy and sci-fi, Barden fits into any role perfectly, a skill that has earned him several awards and nominations. In 2008, Barden won the Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his depiction of Anton Chigurh, an assassin in the 2007 modern Western film No Country for Old Men. The same role earned him six additional awards, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Though No Country for Old Men made quite a buzz, Bardem starred in many other acclaimed films. Born to actress Pilar Bardem, the Spanish actor spent time on film sets and theater in his formative years, eventually appearing alongside his mother in his first motion picture project, The Ages of Lulu. He has notably starred in films such as Before Night Falls, Biutiful, Being the Ricardos, Mother!, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and the Dune film series. Barden gained critical praise and four award nominations for his portrayal of Raoul Silva in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall.
7 Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actor, ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009) and ‘Django Unchained’ (2012)
Unlike others on the list, Christoph Waltz has won two Academy Awards. Waltz gained wide recognition for portraying villainous characters, earning several awards for his performances, including two Oscars in the Best Supporting Actor category. He won his first Oscar in 2010 for his depiction of Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds. His second Academy Award was won for playing Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained, a 2012 collaboration with Tarantino.
While most of his awards and nominations came from his appearances in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, Waltz has played outstanding roles in over 120 movies and TV shows. He debuted in the Bond franchise as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, the 25th installment in the Eon-produced 007 films. Waltz reprised the role in 2021, appearing in No Time to Die opposite Daniel Craig.
8 Rami Malek
Best Actor, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018)
On the silver screen, Rami Malek is best known for his award-winning portrayal of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen rock band in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. He won Best Actor at the 91st Academy Awards for the role, in addition to one British Academy Film Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Malek also set a record as the first actor of Egyptian origin to win an Oscar in the Best Actor category.
Malek is also recognized for portraying Elliot Alderson, a computer hacker in Mr. Robot from 2015 to 2019. The role earned him a Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category. In 2021, Malek debuted in the James Bond film series as the main antagonist Lyutsifer Safin in No Time to Die. He has notably appeared in such projects as Night at the Museum film trilogy, The Pacific, The Little Things, and Oppenheimer.
9 Michelle Yeoh
Best Actress, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2023)
After four decades in the industry, Michelle Yeoh finally won her first Academy Award in 2023. Yeoh joined the list of Oscar-winning actors who appeared in James Bond movies when she scooped an Academy Award for her amazing performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh won three Best Actress awards, including an Oscar for the lead role. The win earned her a spot on the Guinness World Records as the first Asian to win the Best Actress Oscar.
While it was her first-ever Oscar nomination, Yeoh’s celebrated career has recorded several award nominations and wins. She attained fame in the 1980s and 1990s for her breathtaking performances in action and martial arts films. The fact that Yeoh performed her stunts endeared her to audiences. She starred in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies as Bond girl Wai Lin. Yeoh is in the cast of Wicked and Wicked Part Two as Madame Morrible.
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