Burt Reynolds as Bond

Burt Reynolds regretted turning down the part of James Bond, but now you can see how it would have turned out thanks to deepfakery.

During his 60-year career, he claimed to have turned down several huge roles, including James Bond and Han Solo. Reynolds was eyed up as the replacement for Sean Connery’s Bond, but told USA Today in 2015 that he turned down the part because he thought the public wouldn’t accept an American 007.

We’re approaching the point where the seamlessness of the face-swap lets the attention wander to other things that haven’t changed. In this, for example, the uncanny thing is the difference between Connery and Reynolds’ very distinctive physical presences. In trying to summarize these differences, the best I can do is to say Connery is catlike and Reynolds is doglike.