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Fair point, I didn't actually know the full quote until now myself.
I suppose one can argue it's not a diplomatic thing to say, and it shows a similar straightforwardness to what he said in that GQ article (with a similar amount of swearing) that I suspect other actors would have avoided. I get the sense he's just someone who tends to speak his mind. Still, it's interesting that he didn't seem to be trying to court the producers in order to get the role, and even seemed to be on the fence about the whole thing. You can even argue saying those things in that interview during the audition process would have hindered lesser actors.
Being a fellow Northerner, I get Dan's bluntness, the sometimes harsh humour and his, er, 'industrial' language - but I can also see how it might come over differently if someone's not used to it or maybe doesn't recognise it for what it is. I saw the 'rather slit my wrists' interview at the time and I cracked out laughing - it was obviously a joke and, to a Northerner, a funny one. It did look different in print once the opening line had been edited, but that was down to the press stirring it for the phony controversy, tbh.
As I remember it was mainly the Americans on the message boards I read who were outraged by Craig's comment, the British and Australians tended to see it as good humoured, the Americans as high drama.
I think tidbits like that show how EON work when getting a new Bond. It might explain the ATJ meeting rumours that were blown out of proportion.
I get the sense they try to approach actors informally first to get a sense of them - how interested they’d be in the role, how they are personally etc. I mean, it’s a long haul job and they have to know they’re testing the right person. There’s a good possibility that they've already met the next James Bond even if they don’t know who it’ll be yet, and even if auditions haven’t started yet.
Honestly, I’d be surprised if other actors weren’t given the ‘cup of tea’ treatment as well during this time. ATJ may well just happen to be the most well known and so the press latched onto him.
you obviously have issues choosing any actor that is white, dark haired, blue eyed and fits the description of the literary character...
I don't have any issue with them going that route. I wouldn't have any issue if they went this route, either, and that's where you and me are different. We'll leave it at that, shall we? I respect your choices, you can respect mine by at least ignoring them instead of baiting argument.
I personally will never look one of my non-white friends in the face and try to argue to them that James Bond will never look like them and point to books written in the 1950s as my argument. It's just laughable and rude, regardless of your intentions. The world has moved on from Ian Fleming.
Take care.
I was thinking like a casting agent, not a fan, to be clear to @jetsetwilly and @Venutius and the group. Who would Eon potentially want to talk to, if they were to expand beyond the typical crop of names? These are a few I could come up with, especially if they're looking to perhaps challenge the notion of who Bond is in this way next time around.
Thank you for your measured and kind response, which actually considered my choices even if they weren't a good fit. I appreciate you. And with what I wrote above in the other responses in mind, I too also really only see Sope and Anderson as getting anywhere close. Maybe Sagar, as I like his look (especially in the first image) and he's a martial artist in real life, so hopefully he could elevate the fights.
While we're on the topic of potential non-white Bond actors, I'd want to see what a bulked-up Dev Patel looks like (with short hair and shaven), or a bulked-up Kunal Nayyar (with short hair and shaven). Again, I'm just casting a wide net, which might or might not be what Eon does. I'm just having fun. Don't get mad at me.
No problem. I know Patel's been mentioned a few times as a potential choice (maybe not here but more in the rumour mill) but I don't think his strengths as an actor lie in playing a character like Bond. He's best when playing younger characters with a more 'everyman' quality to them if that makes sense. I actually haven't seen any of Nayyar's work beyond Big Bang, and I have a dislike of that show so will be biased!
Haha, fair criticisms of both, I have to admit. It would take a lot of convincing for me for either, but again, thinking as a casting agent or producer maybe looking to be a little more inspired, I think they are wildcards.
I think Idris worked very hard to "Americanize" himself, both in work and in the public eye. He's always played to more American audiences and never quite did much intimate UK work beyond Luther.
https://screenrant.com/new-james-bond-michael-fassbender-007-garth-ennis/
Not a reader of the comics myself, but I'm a bit cautious about the way Screen Rant have described Ennis' take on Bond (ie. being a 'darker' figure that takes inspiration from the books and not the movies... I mean, I know the films tend to exaggerate elements of the novels, but I feel some people tend to believe that the literary Bond was brooding and humorurless. Fleming's Bond did in fact have a sense of humour, was even quite lighthearted in several passages of the novels, and certainly had a zest for life in spite of all his personal dissatisfactions/problems).
I still think he has potential as Bond.
https://deadline.com/2023/11/nicholas-hoult-superman-legacy-lex-luther-1235630393/amp/
His age and acting ability would suggest that now is the time.
EMPIRE (which doesn't mention ATJ)
SCRIPT
My guess is ATJ is either this story's typical ship captain, or perhaps some type of Van Helsing. We'll see. No confirmed release date yet but if it's horror, I'd guess around Halloween.
Without going off topic too much, I'm truly excited for this film, with ATJ being only one aspect of what I'm excited about. As he's one of my top contenders for 007, I'm excited to see what he does and what he gets to do. Who knows maybe Eggers is working with the soon to be leader of a franchise like he did with Pattinson before Batman?
I still remember this image of the male stars together at dinner while filming in Prague:
Harding is an invented character for this film, correct? At least in name? I saw some suggestions online it was a cover name for a new character to fill the role of the captain of the ship the vampire arrives on (Empusa in Nosferatu), or that it was a cover for a Van Helsing-type character/role (there may be legal reasons they can't call him VH here). I haven't truly peeked at that online script, and sort of don't want to.
There is nothing rude about me wanting an actor to play a role who fits the literary description. Careful what you are doing here, as it appears though you are baiting. Maybe that was your intention?
We're not getting into it again. I'm not baiting. That's my side and how I see it. The fact that you see a challenge to your fan view of the character, or any criticism of its creator, as bait could indeed be telling, on the flip side, if you want to go there. James Bond doesn't have to be white, nor does Sherlock Holmes, etc. which is a pretty common view in the arts and I know I'm not alone, so it's fine if a few of you die-hards disagree with me. I'm just saying, go talk to people about it in the real world and try to uphold your argument. Good luck.
To say I'm baiting, when @jetsetwilly went back dozens of pages and hundreds of posts ago to quote me, is actually baiting. Please see straight. I love coming to a forum, posting about non-white actors, and being threatened. That's the message you all are sending. I'm going to start taking screenshots and talking publicly about this on other message boards and socials I'm on. It's reached that point.
In fact, I've even moved on since @jetsetwilly dredged this crap up again yesterday, as you can clearly see by my multiple posts discussing other (WHITE) actors for the role, which you all conveniently skipped over to continue dunking on me for merely suggesting Bond doesn't have to be white. Look at yourselves. If I could personally block users of this forum, I'd go ahead and do you both right now to save me some trouble. I haven't done anything wrong, nor gone against community guidelines in any way.
In case you all missed it ...
Or feel free to pick up here and let's move on:
Your attitude here speaks volumes. Others can make up their own mind on how you are coming across. I don’t think anything more needs to be said. Let’s move on.
Will happily resurrect the ‘is the face in the SF PTS a young boy or Daniel Craig’ debate if it’ll avoid this particular conflict 😂
What I didn’t appreciate was being told it was ‘rude’ and ‘laughable’ to want an actor to resemble the literary version, or that this member was being’ ‘threatened’ because he posted black actor suggestions. Anyone can clearly see he wasn’t being threatened.
To then say he will start reposting these messages on other forums is showing his true intentions and also shows the type of person he is.