Next James Bond: How Sheffield's Sean Bean twice narrowly missed out on 007 role, before playing villain

Sean Bean has played some of TV and film's most memorable characters, from the 19th century soldier Richard Sharpe, as whom he made his name, to Lord Eddard 'Ned' Stark in Game of Thrones and Boromir in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

But the Sheffield-born star, who grew up in Handsworth and started out as a steelworker before pursuing a career in acting, narrowly missed out on playing one of the big screen's most enduring heroes, James Bond, not once but twice.

As the search for the next 007 to replace Daniel Craig continues, with ex-Sheffield Wednesday star Royston Drenthe the latest unlikely name to be thrown into the mix, here's the story of how Sean Bean nearly became the cocktail-supping secret agent and ended up playing one of his most unforgettable foes.

Sean Bean voted one of the most memorable Bond villains

Bean auditioned for the role of James Bond twice, against Timothy Dalton and Dalton's eventual replacement Pierce Brosnan. He impressed on both occasions but each time ended up as second choice. However, he made such an impression that he was selected to play Bond villian Alec Trevelyan in the 1995 instalment GoldenEye.

The film's makers even tweaked the role to fit Bean, who is a few years younger than Brosnan. Trevelyan was originally written as a former mentor to Bond who went rogue but the character was altered to become a fellow spy, 006, who turned against MI6.

As Trevelyan, Bean put in a subtler performance than some of the more cartoonish villians who had gone before him, earning many plaudits. Last year, GQ magazine ranked him as the seventh best Bond villain of all time, ahead of some iconic baddies like Dr. No and Jaws.