Right now, somewhere on a soundstage at Pinewood Studios, several young British actors are lining up to have their dreams crushed.

Rumor has it that Amazon execs and director Denis Villeneuve are finally holding screen tests to determine who will succeed Daniel Craig as the seventh James Bond . Not even M knows the full list of potential 007s, but Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor are widely presumed to be among the top contenders . One of these hopefuls, and only one, will end up inheriting the most coveted male lead in cinematic history. The rest will experience the emotional equivalent of being ejected from an Aston Martin passenger seat.

Luckily for the losers, there is one consolation: They aren’t alone. Pinewood is littered with the dashed hopes of would-be Bonds going back decades — many of whom went on to become household names for other reasons.…