The suave Sir Sean Connery often tops polls of the greatest James Bond stars, while Sir Roger Moore isn’t taken as seriously because of his camp, tongue-in-cheek adventures.
Yet a new study by the Freeview channel Great Action surveying 2000 UK fans has found that young Brits prefer Moore’s 007 over Connery’s take on the spy.
The original Bond may still be the nation’s favourite overall, but 22 per cent of 18-28 year olds favourite Moore to Connery’s 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, Daniel Craig was the only other Bond actor in the poll of greatest action heroes and he was much less popular, taking just 3 per cent of the Gen Z vote.
Moore, on the other hand, also topped Connery with Millennials, taking 26 per cent to his 25 per cent.
Nevertheless, Connery’s popularity only increases as Brits age, with almost half (45 per cent) of 65-75 year olds ranking the Scottish actor as their favourite Bond. The late star, who died 5 years ago on Halloween, was No 1 action hero with the 55 year olds and over. Yet, Connery and Moore’s Bonds were only second and third place across all ages, with an American actor star taking No 1.
It turns out Britain’s favourite actor hero is Bruce Willis, winning 32 per cent of the overall vote. The retired star is best known for playing John McClane in the Die Hard series. Also featuring high up in the poll was Indiana Jones legend Harrison Ford in fourth place and Rambo star Sylvester Stallone in fifth respectively.