Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds admits he has nightmares about turning down Bond, Han Solo and John McClane roles

CAN IT BE? Surely not! Burt Reynolds has just turned 81? No way! He’s got four films out this year, too!

Yes, it’s true, Burt Reynolds, Mr Medallion Man himself was 81 on February 11, yet he is working hard and still turns female heads wherever he goes.

When Burt smiles, the whole world smiles and admires his sparkly teeth.

The image of Burt Reynolds has, in many ways, overtaken the man, but he has no complaints.

One thing you can never accuse Burt of is taking himself seriously.

“My movies have been the kind they show in prisons and on aeroplanes because nobody can leave,” said Burt with that familiar smile.

Take him seriously or not, he has been one of the biggest box-office stars for several decades.

It is incredible to think he’s 81, as he simply does not look it.

“What is age?” he said. “It is just something written on your birth certificate.

“You are what you feel. Some days you could be 10 and other days you could be 540. I haven’t yet started to dream about gardening, so I have a few years to go before I say goodbye to Hollywood.”

So what does he dream about?

“I have nightmares about some of the movies I’ve made and some of those I turned down,” he revealed.

“I think I’ve made many more than 100 films and I am proud of about four of them!

“Did you know I was asked to play James Bond and I turned it down?

“Cubby Broccoli came to see me personally. I knew Sean Connery was leaving as he wanted more money to go on and they could not agree on fees.

“Sean went on to greater things, but the James Bond movies also went on and on.

“I guess I should have been worried when Cubby came to see me as Sean wanted more money. I don’t know what he thought my fee would be.

“The truth is we never got that far as I just could not see James Bond being played by an American.

“The accent would never have suited the part and I could never do Sean’s accent or even an English accent without it being a comedy. So, I turned down James Bond. What a crazy thing to do!”

It was not the only crazy thing Burt has done, however.

“I’ve turned down quite a few major roles,” he said.

“I was offered John McClane in Die Hard, but didn’t really like it, so Bruce Willis took it — and look what happened.

“I was also asked to be Han Solo in Star Wars — A New Hope. I am famous for not being famous in those roles. Bond hurts the most.”

Becoming an actor at all was probably one of his first crazy moves.

He was born in Lansing, Michigan, with a mother whose family was European and a father who was half-Irish and half- Cherokee Indian.

He didn’t have great ambitions other than to be a sports star, which might well have happened since he was an exceptional American Football half back for Florida State University and was expected to become a big-time pro player.

“A knee injury ruled that out,” said Burt. “I could never recover enough to play big-time football and really I was at a loss then as I had not concentrated on my studies very much.

“So I decided to become an actor.

“I went to New York and I got a break and made my stage debut in a production of Mister Roberts.

“A few people saw me and I started getting TV chances, mostly in Westerns.

“That was great as I’ve always had a love of horses and have since had many of my own, which I like to train.

“So, playing cowboys on TV led to me playing cowboys in the movies and my career just took off.

“I think Deliverance gave me a big step up the ladder. I wasn’t a first choice, though.

“I was in a queue behind Marlon Brando, James Stewart and Henry Fonda but, one by one, they turned it down until the producers were just left with me.

“It was a great movie to make.”

When Burt agreed to become the centrefold attraction for a women’s magazine in 1972 baring virtually all, his name went into history and there were cries of both outrage and admiration.

“I was asked, and it seemed a fun thing to do,” he said.

“I didn’t have any problem with it, but I know some people did as they saw it as breaking down some kind of moral barrier.

“That was a surprise as women had been doing it for years — not that I had a problem with that.

“Yes, I had letters from people who did not like it, but I had a whole lot more letters from ladies who did like it. I read those.

“I’ve been a glamour guy ever since,” he added with a laugh. “Women fainting at my feet — in my dreams, I think.”

Appearing naked in a women’s magazine did his career no harm, but he is the first to admit that some of the films he’s made were perhaps not the best.

“I went through a spell of needing to earn,” he said.

“It was my own fault, I trusted someone else with my money and thought he had my best interests at heart.

“The result was that I was accepting almost any role. Some movies were embarrassing.

“I liked some of the Westerns, but even many of those are best forgotten — even though I did get to work with horses.”

Burt still enjoys his time with horses and is a very good rider.

He’s also something of a daredevil, which is why he liked the Smokey and the Bandit films, in which he had to drive a number of big and fast cars.

“I was told Smokey and the Bandit was one of Hitchcock’s all-time favourite movies. How about that?” he smiled.

Burt was consistently high among the Top 10 cinema box- office earners during the late 70s and through to the early 1990s.

Today, he’s still big box office, but prefers cameo roles.

“Find me the right part and I’ll headline, but I have done all that and there is a new generation of actors taking starring roles now,” he said.

“I’m happy the way things are. I don’t think movie actors get the respect they deserve.

“You often have people who’ve only been in the business for a few months telling you what to do as if you have never done it.”

No, Burt is not getting on a soapbox. He doesn’t do that. He always believes life is too short to get too uptight about things.

He’s had several marriages and long-term relationships and he does regret parting with some of those ladies.

He says life must go on.

“I’ve stepped on every landmine life has to offer, but I am a survivor and still enjoying the adventure of living,” he said.

His recent projects include Miami Love Affair, Dog Years, Shadow Fighter and Apple of My Eye, all to screen in 2017.

“I’ve had back and heart-bypass surgery, so I no longer go over walls, but can still go through them,” he joked.

“If I’m asked to fall in a scene, I don’t have a problem. It’s only when I am asked to get up again that we need to think it through.”

He still refuses to be serious for very long,

“One of the greatest ladies I ever knew was Dinah Shore and she always said if you can’t laugh at yourself in this business, you should not be in it,” he said.

“She was a class lady and I hope some of it rubbed off on me.”

It certainly did Burt.