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Blackthorne. John Blackthorne. That’s the character whom Sean Connery had a chance to make famous, but he decided against taking the role. As for the reason he opted out, it’s an interesting case study in 1980 vs 21st century filmmaking — but we’ll get to that in a minute.
With FX’s critically acclaimed remake of Shōgun — its most expensive show ever — some might find it intriguing that the James Bond actor was the original choice to play the lead character of John Blackthorne in the original 1980 miniseries.
In 1966, Sean Connery starred in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, which was somewhat groundbreaking in that it was a Hollywood movie filmed in Japan. Shooting on location, the movie earned applause for many reasons, not the least of which was its authentic Japanese scenery, and its portrayals of Japanese customs. Sean Connery later did Japanese commercials for Suntory whiskey.
The original 1980 series of the Clavell novel was just as ambitious, if not more, than the current FX series. Both versions of Shōgun are critically acclaimed, thanks to their reliance on the novel. Shōgun is one of the best-selling novels of the 1970’s, and its author, James Clavell, was also the executive producer of the television adaptation. The production was a major financial risk for NBC in 1980, one that seemed much more likely to pay off with Sean Connery in the lead role. In fact, Connery was James Clavell’s first choice to play Blackthorne.
However, there was just one problem. In 1980, most movie stars were simply not interested in starring in television shows. At the time, it was seen as a downgrade. Movies and TV were even referred to as the big screen and the small screen, respectively, and so a movie star would rarely take a lead role in a television project. Today, streaming services blur those lines, as movies are even often released on the small screen, and it’s more common to see movie stars become television stars as well.
“The major stars sneer at television,” James Clavell told reporter Marian Zailian of The San Francisco Examiner in 1979. “They’re frightened of it. They say it’s small screen. I counter by saying, ‘Yes, but it’s seen by 60 million people.’”
Even though Shōgun was what Clavell referred to as a “maxi-series,” lasting a few episodes totaling 12 hours and made on an expensive movie-like budget, Connery was not convinced. He refused to do television. Ironically, Clavell originally was going to do Shōgun as a movie, but seeing the major success of the ABC mini-series Roots in 1977 changed his mind. Nonetheless, it didn’t change Connery’s.
Clavell’s next choice was Albert Finney, but he wasn’t available. However, Richard Chamberlain had initially approached producers expressing interest in the role. They turned him away, obviously, because they were interested in Connery. Chamberlain decided to bulk up, as he realized that they wanted Connery not just because of his name, but also because he looked the part of a strong English seafarer.
Chamberlain had already read the book and wanted the role mostly for his love of the story, his understanding of the Blackthorne character, and his belief that he would be perfect for it. Producers, with the help of their first two choices not working out, finally realized Chamberlain might actually be right. Once they began to seriously consider him, they realized he was indeed right. Chamberlain was Blackthorne.
The character arguably became Chamberlain’s most recognizable role, despite producers initially thinking that he wasn’t rugged enough for it. Yet his portrayal opened up more similar roles, as he later starred in King Solomon’s Mines in 1985, and even starred as Jason Bourne in the 1988 two-part television mini-series The Bourne Identity.
Watching the original Shōgun series, or even the FX version of the series, it’s challenging not to conclude that Sean Connery might actually have been a bad choice for the role. That’s not a knock on Connery — who deserves a knock for his stated belief that hitting women is quite OK — but there is a lot of vulnerability in the character, especially earlier in the series, that Connery may not have been perfectly suited for.
Chamberlain’s take on Blackthorne is more realistic and emotion-driven than one could imagine Connery’s version being, and too many viewers would probably be distracted by thinking it’s James Bond in feudal Japan, or a sequel to You Only Live Twice, which would undoubtedly be called Shōgun: You Only Live Thrice.
So Chamberlain may not have been the first choice to play Blackthorne, but he was the best choice and, in the end, it all worked out to unrivaled success for NBC, with a show celebrated and talked about for so long that it finally spawned a major remake decades later.