Sean Connery was the first actor to portray Bond in film in Dr. No (1962). A Scottish amateur bodybuilder, he had come to the attention of the Bond film producers after several appearances in British films from the late 1950s.[11] At a muscular 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), Connery was initially met with disapproval from Fleming, who believed he was an overgrown stuntman lacking the finesse and elegance to play James Bond; he envisaged a suave actor, such as David Niven, playing the role.[12] Producer Albert R. Broccoli—known to all as Cubby—disagreed with Fleming's view, later commenting that "I wanted a ballsy guy ... put a bit of veneer over that tough Scottish hide and you've got Fleming's Bond instead of all the mincing poofs we had applying for the job".[13] Eon's choice of Connery was also based on his looks and sex appeal,[14] an appeal that would later be echoed by Honor Blackman, who said, after appearing with Connery in Goldfinger, "He was exceedingly handsome, virile and sexy and that really was the tenor of what the script was always trying to display".[15]

After Connery was chosen, director Terence Young took the actor to his tailor and hairdresser,[16] and introduced him to the high life, restaurants, casinos and women of London. In the words of Bond writer Raymond Benson, Young educated the actor "in the ways of being dapper, witty, and above all, cool".