Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2021 Posts: 14,861
    AceHole wrote: »
    @mtm and others - remember though, promotions happen far quicker during wartime, especially during WWII when fallen officers being replaced, acts of valor and important strategic accomplishments meant a young lieutenant could quite rapidly rise to become second in command of a frigate or senior officer of a military intelligence division (Lt Cdr or Commander, Royal Navy/US Navy).

    Yes, that's what I meant when I said 'go with the version Fleming laid out and tailor it to a post-WW2 world': really speaking it seems like Bond would never really have reached that rank outside of the war because it seems like he was working for the MoD before he attained Commander.
    A vaguely realistic version of Bond nowadays (and I know that's a kind of silly idea in itself! :) ) would either not be a Commander at all or have attained the rank whilst at SIS by some special circumstance or other as the book version appears to have (as you say, not least because of the war). The idea of someone working the normal route and attaining such a high rank before deciding they actually just want to be an assassin seems quite an odd one.
    His Casino Royale-era military record makes it sound fair enough I guess, I've no idea if it's realistic or not: that has him attain Commander status as he joins RNR Defence Intelligence Group (I assume that's what used to be DIS and is now just DI).
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    Posts: 1,727
    In any case - I'm sure Sam Heughan (of Outlander fame,) has been mentioned as a realistic successor - is he still in the frame..? Probably already too old at 41 , considering it'll be another 4years or so for B26.
    Aiden Turner dropped off the radar... Decent actor though
    Hiddleston and T Hardy are too famous and probably too expensive 😆

    For the next Bond we should be scanning low key British dramas for robust but charming actors in their late 20's, very early 30's.

    I bet Bond #7 is appearing in an episode of Casualty or some BBC2 Sunday drama as we speak...😎
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2021 Posts: 14,861
    AceHole wrote: »
    In any case - I'm sure Sam Heughan (of Outlander fame,) has been mentioned as a realistic successor - is he still in the frame..?

    I think we generally ruled him out when he did a sort of SAS Die Hard-on-a-train movie recently, and he was pretty terrible in it! :)
  • JeremyBondonJeremyBondon Seeking out odd jobs with Oddjob @Tangier
    edited October 2021 Posts: 1,318
    Off the radar? Merely incognito, old boy

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  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    In our continuing series of pictures of good-looking British actors with a bit of buzz behind them but no real reason why they should be James Bond, today: Phil Dunster.

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  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Is that last one a cardboard cutout? :D

    He's the guy from Ted Lasso isn't he? He's good in that but I hadn't really thought of him for this, interesting thought.
  • Posts: 6,669
    Interesting @ImpertinentGoon. I don't know him. Anything I should watch with him? Anything you'd recommend?
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    mtm wrote: »
    Is that last one a cardboard cutout? :D

    It does seem so. Only picture I could find that has him in something resembling a dinner suit.
    Univex wrote: »
    Interesting @ImpertinentGoon. I don't know him. Anything I should watch with him? Anything you'd recommend?

    As @mtm mentioned his buzy role right now is Ted Lasso and that is where I know him from. However, he plays a pretentious footballer from Manchester in that, so not really good material to compare for Bond. Apparently, he was in a UK action/black Ops/spy-series called Strike Back a few years ago, although it seems to be pretty B grade..
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    In our continuing series of pictures of good-looking British actors with a bit of buzz behind them but no real reason why they should be James Bond, today: Phil Dunster.

    Phil-Dunster.jpg

    Strike.Back.S06E07.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-NTb.mkv_snapshot_34.18_%255B2018.03.21_22.19.04%255D.jpg

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    phil-dunster-blue-suit-cardboard-cutout-450x500.png

    I think he looks the part, and being on the hit Ted Lasso will bring him visibility, but like several others from this thread, I think he'll need at least one 'worthy' film role with a bit of buzz about it. Daniel Craig had fronted several 'serious' smaller films, plus had been support in some big productions - now obviously Eon looked at a huge range of actors before settling on Craig, many of them lacking that kind of pedigree, but I wonder, now that Craig has brought the expectation of Bond being played by a 'serious' actor, will they be wiling to go with someone without that kind of clout? Because if not, I think they have very few options.
  • BenjaminBenjamin usa
    Posts: 59
    I imagine this one has already been mentioned before. I haven't seen much of Regé-Jean Page, but wonder if he's a possibility. Currently about 30 years old.

  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    He actually looks surprisingly like Roger in that top right image in the thumbnail! I don't think I've seen him sans-beard before.
  • Posts: 6,669
    Ok, roughly the same age, 5 years apart, but with Jane Austin curriculum as well, even if RJP is a faux Jane Austian. What one would you guys choose, between the two?

  • BenjaminBenjamin usa
    Posts: 59
    Both seem like they might be possibilities to me.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,891

    Univex wrote: »
    Ok, roughly the same age, 5 years apart, but with Jane Austin curriculum as well, even if RJP is a faux Jane Austian. What one would you guys choose, between the two?


    He has real potential ;
    his voice has a masculinity that so many young actors today lack.

  • JeremyBondonJeremyBondon Seeking out odd jobs with Oddjob @Tangier
    edited October 2021 Posts: 1,318
    Those teeth alone should rule him out. Blasphemous almost. Boyband material, tops.

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  • edited October 2021 Posts: 6,669
    Not looking to bash either one, as both have good looks (clearly), and this is not a race dispute. Should have said this already ;)

    And yes, of course the two are possibilities, @Benjamin, no one is disputing that, that's why I'm asking this.

    Just, between the two, for Bond, who would you guys pick? A simple one or the other will suffice, no further arguments needed ;)

    But, yes, @JeremyBondon, the voice, man, the voice is a very big deal, IMO. It commands presence. And most of us complain about Pierce's higher tone. So...
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 624
    Theo James is a good choice. His name is even half way there. ;)
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 6,669
    Theo James is a good choice. His name is even half way there. ;)

    Exactly! Theo James as James Bond.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Univex wrote: »
    Not looking to bash either one, as both have good looks (clearly), and this is not a race dispute. Should have said this already ;)

    And yes, of course the two are possibilities, @Benjamin, no one is disputing that, that's why I'm asking this.

    Just, between the two, for Bond, who would you guys pick? A simple one or the other will suffice, no further arguments needed ;)

    But, yes, @JeremyBondon, the voice, man, the voice is a very big deal, IMO. It commands presence. And most of us complain about Pierce's higher tone. So...

    Out of those two, I'd probably take James. But I haven't really seen him act at all. I think I saw half of one of the Divergent films as God intended: Without sound on a long-haul bus trip. Page on the other hand, I saw in Bridgerton and didn't really like, apart from him being a very pretty man.
  • BenjaminBenjamin usa
    edited October 2021 Posts: 59
    Univex wrote: »
    ....And yes, of course the two are possibilities, @Benjamin, no one is disputing that, that's why I'm asking this....

    I just need more information. Both of them look great, but which one is a better actor?

    Daniel Craig has set a very high bar. No one is going to get that high in terms of acting ability, at least as far as I can tell.

    But which one of these two has the depth to pull off not just action, but a really dramatic scene? One of the things that's sometimes blown me away about Craig is the emotion at times. I know that it's not for all tastes to have Bond once in a while shed a tear. In fact, as far as I recall it never happened at all before Craig.

    Again, no one is likely to match the emotional range of Craig, but which one of these two is closer? And what performances are out there to prove the point?
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 6,669
    Benjamin wrote: »
    I just need more information. Both of them look great, but which one is a better actor?

    Between the two, Theo James, clearly has more resumé. And he has stared alongside the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley and Richard Gere, just to mention a good actor and another who has screen presence. But, and this is key, but none of them is of DC's caliber. Not one. Actually, probably not one, not a single one of all of the candidates on this thread is.

    If we want someone of DC's caliber, we'll have to go with someone like George MacKay, which I'd be fine with.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    At this moment out of the two I'd go for Theo James.
  • I think Jack O’Connell’s up there. He blew me away in Starred Up and 71 in much the same way that DC did in Our Friends in the North. His filmography since has been hit and miss (although Godless and the North Water were very good), but so was Craig’s to be fair, and even in weaker films like Jungleland he manages to shine. Seems like he could handle the physical stuff well too, I remember reading these tidbits about Jungleland after I watched it

    https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/jack-oconnell-on-becoming-a-bare-knuckle-boxer-for-jungleland/amp/

    https://www.aceshowbiz.com/amp/news/view/00163089.html

    He’s probably my first choice for it, but I seem to be in the minority on that one on here, so I’m not sure if he’ll be on EON’s radar, sadly.
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    When do you guys think the new actor will be announced?
  • 2024, movie in 2026.
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    Movie in 2026 seems the most reasonable prediction to me.
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 12,837
    I’m going to go with a possibly overly optimistic guess of 2023, for a 2024 release date. I don’t think they’ll start looking and planning until next year, Barbara’s said as much. And the days of a film every two years are behind us. But I think the longer gap last time was in part because they were trying to lure Craig back (hard to plan the next film when it might be a sequel or might be a reboot), which won’t be an issue this time. And now that Amazon are involved, they might want the films out a bit quicker. The war between the big players seems to be heating up a bit, and Bond could be a real asset for Amazon.
  • It took them 5 years without an actor change. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt with 2026.
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 6,669
    I think it'll all be sooner than we think. Call it a hunch ;)

    I'd say end of 2022, for a 2023 or 2024 release.

    But hey, I'm a positivist :)... sometimes.
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 12,837
    It took them 5 years without an actor change. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt with 2026.

    The issue with that gap though was them not knowing if there’d be an actor change or not. Fugunaka has said he pitched for a reboot at one point, because they didn’t know if DC would return, while Barbara was trying to lure him back. It wasn’t until 2017 that Craig announced he was definitely doing one more, and the wheels got turning. Then there were creative issues due to people having different ideas of how that run should end (Boyle and Hodge disagreeing with Craig/EON).

    This time around, they know they need a new actor, so I’d imagine it’ll be easier to plan. And there won’t be the same expectations there were for Craig’s last film, and the next actor will probably have a lot less clout than DC (at least at first), so I think creative differences will be less of an issue. Could be wrong though, I guess we really have no way of knowing.
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