A star who took on the role of James Bond for several films should have “quit earlier” according to fans. Long-serving viewers will have enjoyed Roger Moore’s work in the role of 007, but some believe he should have left the series years before he did.

In a post to the r/TodayILearned Reddit page, fans discovered the reason Moore, who played 007 in seven films from 1973 to 1985, xhose to leave the role is he felt he was too old to carry on in the lead role. But the James Bond star had felt like this before his final film, A View to a Kill, allegedly wondering if he should leave the series before then.

Some fans agree he should have, as they highlighted a perfect moment for the role to transition into the darker tone taken by the Timothy Dalton entries.

The post reads: “The reason Roger Moore decided to end his 7 film run as James Bond was because he was disgusted by the greatly increasing age gap between himself and the leading ladies.

“The final straw was when he discovered he was older than the mother of A View to a Kill star Tanya Roberts.” Another fan observed Sean Connery had stepped away from the role because he felt he was too old for the character.

Connery, born in 1930, was replaced by Roger Moore, who was born in 1927. Another fan added: “I think Ian Fleming, creator of Bond, said the character was supposed to be around 40 years old give or take a few years. Roger Moore was late 50s last time he played Bond so was probably time for a change.”

Some fans believe the change should have come much quicker, as one observed a perfect moment for the reigns to be handed over to another actor. They wrote: “He should’ve quit after Moonraker. For Your Eyed Only would’ve been totally perfect for Dalton’s version. We should’ve had Dalton for the entire 80s.”

Another user agreed, adding: “I actually liked Dalton as Bond. Perhaps the most underrated Bond yet.” Moore reportedly had other problems with the James Bond series apart from his age, though.

He said at the time: “I was horrified on the last Bond I did. Whole slews of sequences where Christopher Walken was machine-gunning hundreds of people.

“I said ‘That wasn’t Bond, those weren’t Bond films.’ It stopped being what they were all about. You didn’t dwell on the blood and the brains spewing all over the place.”

Fans have praised him for his candid comments on departing the role, with one sharing: ” Say what you will about Roger Moore’s Bond, but the man had more self-awareness than most of Hollywood combined.

“He didn’t just know when to leave the party—he knew why he should. That kind of class is almost as rare as gadgets that actually work in real life.”