United Kingdom, June 30 -- Sam Neill was "bullied" into auditioning for James Bond.

The 77-year-old actor has claimed he has only ever auditioned for three roles in his life, one of which saw him secure the part of Harry Beecham in period drama My Brilliant Career, but he also lost out to Timothy Dalton in playing the suave spy in the late 1980s and to Richard Gere in the iconic Pretty Woman, but he thinks the right people were ultimately cast.

He told the Sunday Times Culture magazine: "I'd just finished the film Sleeping Dogs (1977) in New Zealand, when I got an audition to star in My Brilliant Career, which really put me on my way.

"I think I've done three auditions in my life, and the other two I failed. I was bullied into audition...