Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • Posts: 4,230
    bondywondy wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    A balance is needed. The problem with Tom Hiddleston (this is not a criticism of him or him as an actor by the way, just an issue with his Bond potential) is that he is and comes across as a child of public school. It’s easy to imagine him meeting up with his old school chums and reminiscing about ‘the old days’. George Sanders, a great actor, had a poshness to him that drifted more towards an authority and rigidity. Neither are Bond at all.

    All the actors had affected elements of their voice to some extent, but there’s a rebelliousness and transgressive humour to the character that means some element of irony is needed. So if a future Bond has slips of the accent, some informal elements of their speech, or even more than a twang of a regional accent, this is fine and in keeping with the cinematic Bond.

    George Sanders played the Saint which was Bond lite, I guess. Roger Moore said the big difference between the Saint and James Bond was Simon Templar never killed people. Bond is a gentlemanly killer for the state. Arguably the basic appeal of Bond is his paradoxical nature. Part gentleman, part killer. I don't know if Cary Grant ever played any assassin/killer roles in his career. George Sanders did play a villain in an episode of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea.

    I reckon Cubby Broccoli wasn't too concerned about Bond having a public school vibe. Sean Connery appeared to lessen his Scottish accent when cast. I don't know if Connery had a broader Scottish accent prior to acting. Connery's Bond didn't appear to belong to any social class (neutral class?) and that gave Bond universal appeal. The cinematic Bond seems an outlier. Bond is well educated so upper class perhaps but also a paid killer. We tend to associate paid killers with lower social class (hoodlums, contract killers, mobsters etc) so Bond is an outlier. The brutal realty of Bond's job doesn't make him a public schoolboy type even if he could be argued to be that in his formative years.

    It may well be something a bit lost nowadays, but the background that Fleming gave Bond is quite unusual in many ways. While certainly privileged, Bond is educated earlier on in Europe so isn't in that world of elite upper class Englishness and wouldn’t have any status within it anyway. When he is forced to enter that world in the form of Eton he’s even expelled. Again, it’s made clear he’s not technically even English and even Fettes is implied in his obituary to be less restrictive and more tailored to his interests (and of course it’s significant that it’s a Scottish boarding school). I think in that sense Fleming was pretty clearly depicting Bond as an outlier of sorts.

    In a weird way the early films make Bond come across as much more educated and upper class than he actually is. There are several references to him going to Oxford to learn difficult languages. In CR of course they kind of reevaluate this when Vesper ‘reads’ Bond and implies he didn’t come from money and he has a sort of chip on his shoulder about this (the sentiment of Bond being a loner’s there, but even in the context of the Craig era she’s wrong… I suppose she’s just a bad judge of character, as evidenced by what happens with Yussuef).
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 946
    007HallY wrote: »
    It may well be something a bit lost nowadays, but the background that Fleming gave Bond is quite unusual in many ways. While certainly privileged, Bond is educated earlier on in Europe so isn't in that world of elite upper class Englishness and wouldn’t have any status within it anyway. When he is forced to enter that world in the form of Eton he’s even expelled.
    I'm not sure you're not putting your own spin on that. As I understand it, Bond was expelled from Eton for 'girl trouble', and this seems to have been inspired by Fleming's own education, where he was encouraged to move on from Eton to enrol in Sandhurst because his housemaster disapproved of his womanising lifestyle (which would see him leave Sandhurst early, too). I don't think Fleming thought of himself as an outsider to his class so much as someone not bound by conventional morality, and I'm not convinced Bond being expelled from Eton was supposed to show that he didn't fit in with the English upper-class so much as that he was something of a rogue.
    007HallY wrote: »
    Again, it’s made clear he’s not technically even English and even Fettes is implied in his obituary to be less restrictive and more tailored to his interests (and of course it’s significant that it’s a Scottish boarding school). I think in that sense Fleming was pretty clearly depicting Bond as an outlier of sorts.
    Bond's parentage didn't get mentioned until relatively late in the series, did it? I know his Scottish heritage only came about once Connery was cast, and his parents mentioned in his obit in You Only Live Twice; Bond looking not quite English is mentioned in Moonraker, IIRC, which is quite early, though I'm not sure it really tallies with him looking like Hoagy Carmichael... is it ever mentioned again?
  • Posts: 9,849
    Cavill needs to be bond
  • edited April 5 Posts: 2,599
    Mallory wrote: »
    I am watching the TV series of The Gentlemen and could definitely see Theo James as Bond, especially in Episode 2 when he is in a tuxedo and at a glamorous casino party.

    A presenter on a radio station I listen to said the same thing. I'll have to check out this show. I've heard it's good. I first saw Theo James in Allegiant.
  • Informe_James_BondInforme_James_Bond Dominican Republic
    Posts: 112
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    Bond, Superman, Geralt of Rivia, Sherlock Holmes, Highlander and possibly a character in the MCU. How many more characters??

    Stop with Henry Cavill!

    8-|
  • Posts: 1,496
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    For me he's not the greatest actor. He's often pretty flat and displays limited range, plus, although he does look the part, Eon will probably consider him too old now for a multi-picture deal over the next decade or longer.
  • edited April 5 Posts: 4,230
    007HallY wrote: »
    It may well be something a bit lost nowadays, but the background that Fleming gave Bond is quite unusual in many ways. While certainly privileged, Bond is educated earlier on in Europe so isn't in that world of elite upper class Englishness and wouldn’t have any status within it anyway. When he is forced to enter that world in the form of Eton he’s even expelled.
    I'm not sure you're not putting your own spin on that. As I understand it, Bond was expelled from Eton for 'girl trouble', and this seems to have been inspired by Fleming's own education, where he was encouraged to move on from Eton to enrol in Sandhurst because his housemaster disapproved of his womanising lifestyle (which would see him leave Sandhurst early, too). I don't think Fleming thought of himself as an outsider to his class so much as someone not bound by conventional morality, and I'm not convinced Bond being expelled from Eton was supposed to show that he didn't fit in with the English upper-class so much as that he was something of a rogue.

    Arguably they go hand in hand. But the point still stands Fleming was consciously depicting him as that rogue/outlier. The background of where it came from/Fleming’s own life is irrelevant (same for whether it was Connery who inspired to make Bond Scottish, and I think Fleming had Scottish ancestry anyway. He also consciously made his mother European). It’s only how it comes across on the page that matters.
    007HallY wrote: »
    Again, it’s made clear he’s not technically even English and even Fettes is implied in his obituary to be less restrictive and more tailored to his interests (and of course it’s significant that it’s a Scottish boarding school). I think in that sense Fleming was pretty clearly depicting Bond as an outlier of sorts.
    Bond's parentage didn't get mentioned until relatively late in the series, did it? I know his Scottish heritage only came about once Connery was cast, and his parents mentioned in his obit in You Only Live Twice; Bond looking not quite English is mentioned in Moonraker, IIRC, which is quite early, though I'm not sure it really tallies with him looking like Hoagy Carmichael... is it ever mentioned again?

    The MR passage is another example and is quite typical of how Fleming’s Bond doesn’t really ‘fit’ anywhere. There are also several references to him having something dark/dangerous about him, wearing a blue suit even in the hot Bahamas etc. It’s just that idea of ‘there’s something about this guy’ if that makes sense. There are also times when he becomes annoyed at things he sees as too decadent (ie. He suddenly becomes disgusted with Du Pont/the Lobster restaurant in GF) and his attitude to things money boarders on ignorance and he admits he was never left anything and wouldn’t know what to do with it if he had too much. Also you have characters every so often like Saunders - a former public school boy who still wears his old school tie - who are antagonistic towards Bond and whom he in turn seems to have no time for.

    I mean, it’s not as though class is a major part of Bond, but I never got the impression it was as simple as Bond being simply an upper class toff. And as a character he’s very much a lone wolf anyway who often has very specific views on things.
  • Posts: 9,849
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    Bond, Superman, Geralt of Rivia, Sherlock Holmes, Highlander and possibly a character in the MCU. How many more characters??

    Stop with Henry Cavill!

    8-|

    I just started with Cavill again

    Also Highlander has been in development hell since 2009 until i see cameras rolling i am gonna assume its not happening
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    edited April 5 Posts: 946
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    Bond, Superman, Geralt of Rivia, Sherlock Holmes, Highlander and possibly a character in the MCU. How many more characters??

    Stop with Henry Cavill!

    8-|

    I just started with Cavill again

    Also Highlander has been in development hell since 2009 until i see cameras rolling i am gonna assume its not happening

    Highlander
    does appear to be actually moving, though: director Chad Stahelski has confirmed it's his next project, Henry Cavill started training for it in January, and the production company have said it will be a 2026 release. You only wish Bond 26 had this amount of movement!
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,228
    While at the moment who I see as a diamond in the ruff, Leo Suter, remains my top choice, I have to say that as I'm watching "The Gentleman" Theo James is incredibly impressive and would be an excellent choice. These two came in 1st and 2nd in our fun little contest but I really see it as a tie; they both have strengths that would be beneficial for the role.
  • Posts: 9,849
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    Bond, Superman, Geralt of Rivia, Sherlock Holmes, Highlander and possibly a character in the MCU. How many more characters??

    Stop with Henry Cavill!

    8-|

    I just started with Cavill again

    Also Highlander has been in development hell since 2009 until i see cameras rolling i am gonna assume its not happening

    Highlander
    does appear to be actually moving, though: director Chad Stahelski has confirmed it's his next project, Henry Cavill started training for it in January, and the production company have said it will be a 2026 release. You only wish Bond 26 had this amount of movement!

    I have been fooled in the past
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,124
    https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=4253
    I knew Ewan McGregor was considered for Bond for CR. But I didnt know it was that serious.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=4253
    I knew Ewan McGregor was considered for Bond for CR. But I didnt know it was that serious.

    So like our friend, ATJ, McGregor also reportedly did a screen test!

    Well, colour me surprised 😮…. 😂 😂 😂….
  • Posts: 2,277
    I’m a fan Ewan McGregor fan, but I don’t think he would’ve worked honestly. Besides he’s Obi Wan Kenobi!
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    I’m a fan Ewan McGregor fan, but I don’t think he would’ve worked honestly. Besides he’s Obi Wan Kenobi!

    And a very good Ben Kenobi! I really enjoy him in everything, but I was surprised that I did love him in Star Wars (films I had major issues with, but watched all three due to the ages of my kids and their fascination with this world); and I thought he was brilliant picking the role up for the tv series (and Vader was quite a bit more scary in this series than I remembered!)…
  • Posts: 2,277
    peter wrote: »
    I’m a fan Ewan McGregor fan, but I don’t think he would’ve worked honestly. Besides he’s Obi Wan Kenobi!

    And a very good Ben Kenobi! I really enjoy him in everything, but I was surprised that I did love him in Star Wars (films I had major issues with, but watched all three due to the ages of my kids and their fascination with this world); and I thought he was brilliant picking the role up for the tv series (and Vader was quite a bit more scary in this series than I remembered!)…

    I think McGregor was perhaps the best element of the Star Wars prequels; he really nails down to essence of Alec Guinness perfectly imho. I once tried marathoning TPM through ROTJ and found that the transition from McGregor to Guinness felt almost flawless; can’t say the same for other elements however.
  • Posts: 1,396
    Jude law was better choice.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    edited April 5 Posts: 9,509
    peter wrote: »
    I’m a fan Ewan McGregor fan, but I don’t think he would’ve worked honestly. Besides he’s Obi Wan Kenobi!

    And a very good Ben Kenobi! I really enjoy him in everything, but I was surprised that I did love him in Star Wars (films I had major issues with, but watched all three due to the ages of my kids and their fascination with this world); and I thought he was brilliant picking the role up for the tv series (and Vader was quite a bit more scary in this series than I remembered!)…

    I think McGregor was perhaps the best element of the Star Wars prequels; he really nails down to essence of Alec Guinness perfectly imho. I once tried marathoning TPM through ROTJ and found that the transition from McGregor to Guinness felt almost flawless; can’t say the same for other elements however.

    Ahaha that would have been my assumption too, @007ClassicBondFan !! I’d have thought McGregor would have seamlessly moved into the Guinness itineration, but yeah, I had a tough time figuring Hayden would turn into the Vader I knew (and feared) as a little kid…

    And @DEKE_RIVERS , I disagree: YOU would have made a better choice.
  • Informe_James_BondInforme_James_Bond Dominican Republic
    edited April 5 Posts: 112
    Risico007 wrote: »
    [

    I just started with Cavill again

    Also Highlander has been in development hell since 2009 until i see cameras rolling i am gonna assume its not happening

    This shows that you are only obsessed with Henry Cavill and that you know nothing about how EON chooses the actor to play James Bond.

    :))
  • Posts: 1,396
    Jude law was better choice.

    I mean, for Bond.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,124
    Yeah. I agree with @peter & @007ClassicBondFan McGregor is great. I'm a fan of his as well.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    edited April 5 Posts: 1,658
    McGregor should come to Bond as an ally or villain still. Tanner?
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    edited April 5 Posts: 2,124
    Tilda Swinton as the first female Bond villain in years.
  • edited April 5 Posts: 580
    Tilda Swinton as the first female Bond villain in years.

    Btw, I really dislike that Elektra King is often considered a female main villain. She wasn't one. Same goes for Rosa Klebb. No Bond film has ever had a female main villain.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    edited April 5 Posts: 9,509
    Jude law was better choice.

    I mean, for Bond.

    So do I…. You, @DEKE_RIVERS , would be an excellent Bond. A high IQ assassin, with three word quips, if that, moving along the corridors, in the shadows, trolling your villainous enemies…

    McGregor, Law, Craig— they ain’t got nothin on you…

  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,124
    Tilda Swinton as the first female Bond villain in years.

    Btw, I really dislike that Elektra King is often considered a female main villain. She wasn't one. Same goes for Rosa Klebb. No Bond film has ever had a female main villain.

    Yeah. Elektra King is, though. If not, she's still the closest. But I feel she's the main villain. She's the one with the money after all.
  • edited April 5 Posts: 350
    ColonelSun wrote: »
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Cavill needs to be bond

    For me he's not the greatest actor. He's often pretty flat and displays limited range, plus, although he does look the part, Eon will probably consider him too old now for a multi-picture deal over the next decade or longer.

    And both his spy films - with him playing a spy - bombed at the box office: The Man From Uncle, and, Argylle.

    Apparently Argylle lost Apple hundreds of millions, one of the biggest flops of the 21st century (!) so Cavill is not a worthwhile asset. Had Argylle been a moderate or blockbuster hit it would have raised Cavill's market value but it flopped so his market value has dropped off a cliff. Time will tell if a studio will invest in Cavill in the rumoured Highlander reboot. My gut feeling is it won't happen, however, actors can have huge bombs and still get big roles but, fair or not, Argylle was such a huge box office flop (total world wide box office of 96 million compared to No Time To Die 774 million) I can't see Cavill having any more big film roles. And I can't see Eon casting Cavill for that reason. Not sufficient box office appeal to justify Cavill's large fee.

    Cavill will want millions to commit to a three films deal plus the option of a fourth and I can't see Barbara Broccoli looking at Argylle's box office and thinking "sure, Henry, here's 60 million dollars." And that would seem the sort of figure Cavill would want. Maybe 10 million for Bond 26, 20 million for Bond 27, 25 million or more for Bond 28.

    The harsh reality is Cavill isn't 'box office' to warrant such a salary. Cavill hasn't justified it.
  • Posts: 9,849
    https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=4253
    I knew Ewan McGregor was considered for Bond for CR. But I didnt know it was that serious.

    Mcgregor was my top choice before i new craig existed…. Again i watch popcorn flicks hence why i am usually quiet in these chats i dont watch bbc dramas about 1500 scotland where a lot of these actors are from
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,124
    Risico007 wrote: »
    https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=4253
    I knew Ewan McGregor was considered for Bond for CR. But I didnt know it was that serious.

    Mcgregor was my top choice before i new craig existed…. Again i watch popcorn flicks hence why i am usually quiet in these chats i dont watch bbc dramas about 1500 scotland where a lot of these actors are from

    Oh, fair enough. I love engaging flicks. Medieval stuffs as well.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,124
    One of the reasons I still think it could be ATJ is because, I believe The Sun started saying it would be Craig in April of 2005 and he was later announced in October. Also, I can't remember fully if there was a script ready in April of 2005 or if Martin Campbell was announced in April, before The Sun started saying it would be Craig.
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