Antony Starr's Leaked James Bond Audition Proves He Was Homelander All Along

"The Boys" actor Antony Starr has made a name for himself playing one of the best villains in TV history in Homelander, but it's been confirmed that there's an alternate timeline in which Starr's career blew during in the early 2000s with him playing one of the most famous literary and cinematic heroes of all time. YouTuber Ron South has uploaded a series of "Casino Royale" audition tapes that he claims were found in a movie studio recycling bin. One studio's trash has become a treasure trove for movie fans, as we've gotten to see Henry Cavill, Sam Worthington, Rupert Friend, and Homelander himself read for the role of 007.

These audition tapes couldn't have come at a better time. It's starting to look like there won't be a new James Bond movie within our lifetimes, and a dose of nostalgia is the perfect comfort for that cold reality. 007 fans are thrilled to get a peak at the movie that might have been, and fans of "The Boys" are loving all the small hints of Homelander that exist in Starr's Bond tryout. In the tape, Starr performs a scene from 1995's "GoldenEye" where Bond talks with Xenia Onatopp at a bar. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Daniel Craig playing Bond in "Casino Royale" or the films that followed, and this tape shows that Starr probably wasn't ready at the time (his British accent is far from perfect). However, it also shows that, even 20 years ago, Starr was meant to play Homelander.

Antony Starr's James Bond audition was filmed in a hotel room, and the tape begins with him standing in the doorway. From that very first frame, some fans were able to see the seeds of Starr's most famous character. "Just standing there he already has the Homelander posture," wrote one YouTube user in the comments. Starr does have a specific, rigid way of carrying himself, even here. The fact that he doesn't have an American accent in the tape should be enough to distance him from Homelander, but even so, some fans were still picking up notes of menace throughout the entire audition. One commenter wrote, "I see a lot of the same mannerisms in this performance and his performance as Homelander. If it ain't broke don't fix it I guess."

There are several moments where a Homelander-esque confidence — or arrogance — seems to bleed through into Starr's performance. When Bond points out that there's an error on the registration plate of the Lamborghini belonging to Xenia Onatopp's friend, you're almost waiting for his eyes to light up red. In some cases it's small facial gestures (like an eyebrow raise paired with the hint of a smug smile, for example) that scream Homelander. "It's crazy how even 20 years ago Homelander was acting like Antony Starr," one commenter joked. At this point, Starr has probably missed his window to play Bond, but now we know for certain that he was born to play Homelander.