Final Fantasy 16 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 actor Ben Starr has been in many games, but 007 First Light isn't one of them, despite an audition. To this day, though, he's just fine about that.
Speaking to VGC, Starr reveals that he auditioned for the game years ago while helping bring Final Fantasy 16's Clive to life. At that point, he wasn't the established name he is today and was simply "a young actor who liked video games."
Alas, he didn't get the role because, in his own words, "I was terrible."
"I auditioned for James Bond years ago," he recalls. "I never would have gotten it. I was terrible. I remember doing a self-tape for it. I did the GoldenEye scene, and I got recalled to meet the team.
"I was a couple of years into doing Final Fantasy at that point, and it hadn't been released, so I was just a young actor who liked video games."
Despite the setback, though, Starr doesn't mind that he missed out. Mostly, as the actor who got the role nailed it.
"I really kind of crumbled under the pressure," he adds. "I didn't deliver what they wanted, and I'm so fucking happy I didn't get anywhere near it, because my god, Patrick Gibson is so fucking good. He's unbelievable."
So it goes, some things aren't meant to be. And to be fair, Starr has been part of many cool projects since then. As a huge Final Fantasy fan, doing the voice of Clive in FF16 must have been a dream come true – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't half bad either. Starr can also claim to have voiced a romanceable door in Date Everything. Can Patrick Gibson say that?
In our own 007 First Light review, we called the game "Bond's greatest game to date" and a "well-oiled spy thriller machine." So yeah, I'd say we agree.
