Sean Connery was the first actor to portray the secret agent James Bond in a movie. It was the actor's breakout role; before that, he had been acting in smaller theatrical and television productions. To take this role was a smart decision, but the same actor who saw the potential in James Bond didn't understand The Lord of the Rings.

Sean Connery was the first choice to play Gandalf, but the actor missed out on this opportunity. He really did his research and read not only the script, but also the book, yet he didn't understand it. He also watched the movie with Ian McKellen as Gandalf when it came out, but Sean Connery couldn't understand it still, though he agreed that McKellen did a really good job. At first, Sean Connery was promised $6 million for each movie in the trilogy, then he was tempted with a 15% stake in box office profits, so in reality, he turned down nearly $450 million.