Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    These Vanity Fair videos (asking British actors questions) are about six years old, so pretty much everyone in contention has aged out, but still interesting to see so many possible Bonds in one video. Also, one of the questions was 'who is your favourite Bond?'




    Interesting to me is that Richard Madden, who I generally find a bit bland on screen, is actually quite cool and charismatic when just being himself; Matthew Goode comes across particularly well here, too. And I'd love to see Jeremy Irons as a Bond villain, or perhaps a new 'M'.
  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    I love Judi Dench's reply to who the best Bond is. Also glad to see Ruth Wilson choose Lazenby
  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    QsCat wrote: »
    I love Judi Dench's reply to who the best Bond is. Also glad to see Ruth Wilson choose Lazenby

    Haha also Goode's "I'll be damned..."
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,890
    Goode as Bond would be a deal breaker for me. Something about him really creeps me out; he could have been cast as “C” in SPECTRE.
  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    talos7 wrote: »
    Goode as Bond would be a deal breaker for me. Something about him really creeps me out; he could have been cast as “C” in SPECTRE.

    I agree. Norman Bates maybe.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    I really like Goode, but I don't know if he'd have made a good Bond. I think I might have liked him as 007, but you never know until you see them on screen.

    Now I'm sure Fassbender would have been a cool Bond:

    He'd have still needed good scripts, though, and I think the writing is the biggest hurdle facing the Bond franchise. You can tell from the very varied opinions here that the Bond series has something of an identity issue: does it need to change? Should it go back to its literary roots? Should it be more light-hearted? More over-the-top, or more gritty? I think Eon know they're going to have a hard time pleasing everybody.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited March 2021 Posts: 14,861
    I was listening to that long Nerdist 2015 podcast interview with Daniel Craig yesterday and I think it's interesting that he was saying he benefitted from that 15 years experience before he started playing Bond, and it's interesting to hear just how much focus it requires: he says how he never has time to go back to his trailer and has be on it 100% all day, no time for chatting to crew or anything like that. I think it's such a big all-encompassing role now that you need an actor who has a decent amount of experience and can handle that; I'd be surprised if they go for a complete unknown.
    Connery could just about do that, but it's not as if he hadn't starred in movies already, and don't forget he had started and quit the role in a time shorter than the period between Spectre and No Time To Die! :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 2021 Posts: 17,728
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Denbigh wrote: »
    I don't think Harry Styles will ever be considered, but I hope we're not ruling him out (or calling him an idiot) because he sometimes dresses effeminately...

    The only reason, for me, that is valid for ruling him out is his lack of experience. And that is likely to change. I don't know if he wishes to continue acting or not, but he wasn't bad in Dunkirk at all considering he had thrown himself in at the deep end. If he develops leading man capabilities, why not? The photo posted above proves he looks good in a nice suit.

    It's not like we've never had a super-masculine version of Bond embrace effeminacy before!

    o3tifcg3hx541.jpg

    Roger Moore once played a woman as well (the aunt of Sinclair in The Persuaders). He was very convincing I must say.

    That sounds like something I really need to see! I bought the DVD boxset of The Persuaders a while back but haven't got round of watching any episodes of it yet. I remember seeing a little bit of it back in the mid-1990s when Channel 4 decided to rerun the series.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Fassbender is definitely the Bond that got away, for me. Would I trade him for Craig? I don't know. They'd have undoubtedly had fun with his multi-lingual abilities (I believe he also speaks French, as well as German obviously). Yes, it doesn't really matter whether an actor can actually speak other languages, but it would still be a nice feature.

    As far as Goode is concerned, I don't know. He does have that intense, serial killer presence in almost everything. He's a lot like Clive Owen to me, in that sense. He could be another Double-Oh, maybe.
  • FatherValentineFatherValentine England
    Posts: 737
    Fassbender is definitely the Bond that got away, for me. Would I trade him for Craig? I don't know. They'd have undoubtedly had fun with his multi-lingual abilities (I believe he also speaks French, as well as German obviously). Yes, it doesn't really matter whether an actor can actually speak other languages, but it would still be a nice feature.

    As far as Goode is concerned, I don't know. He does have that intense, serial killer presence in almost everything. He's a lot like Clive Owen to me, in that sense. He could be another Double-Oh, maybe.

    Fassbender really is the best Bond we have never had. Personally I would trade him for Craig, and think he has such potential that I would have no problem with him taking the role now.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,890
    I think that Fassbender is as close to universal approval by members that we’re ever going to get, what a missed opportunity.
    As with so many things, timing is crucial; his window coincided with Daniel.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    edited March 2021 Posts: 1,351
    mtm wrote: »
    I was listening to that long Nerdist 2015 podcast interview with Daniel Craig yesterday and I think it's interesting that he was saying he benefitted from that 15 years experience before he started playing Bond, and it's interesting to hear just how much focus it requires: he says how he never has time to go back to his trailer and has be on it 100% all day, no time for chatting to crew or anything like that. I think it's such a big all-encompassing role now that you need an actor who has a decent amount of experience and can handle that; I'd be surprised if they go for a complete unknown.
    Connery could just about do that, but it's not as if he hadn't starred in movies already, and don't forget he had started and quit the role in a time shorter than the period between Spectre and No Time To Die! :)

    Interesting. Can you say from the interview, what exactly makes Bond such a big role? Is it "just" being in almost every scene or is there more to it, that is specific to Bond? Is he doing non-acting things during production days as well?
    I guess just the fact that this one character is so central to the film is actually uncommon and something not many actors actually can gather experience in. I would be interested in a breakdown of screentime for the various Bond actors compared to other films.

    I think we have talked here before about how dependent the franchise is/should be on it's lead actor. Craig is a co-producer of at least SP, right? I don't even know what that means, but we certainly know that he has a large influence over the franchise during his tenure. Clearly a new actor doesn't fill out those footsteps immediately and there will be actors (possibly even most of them?) who have no interest in that side of things anyway. But with Craig out, Fukunaga the only Bond director who hasn't (yet) put out a cluncker and is under 70 (meaning, I don't see Mendes, Forster, Campbell*, Tamahori, Spottiswoode or Glen coming back...) and BB, Michael G. Wilson and Purvis & Wade all getting into (at least) their 60s, there could be a serious vacuum at the creative center of the franchise come 2023. Of course, I don't know any of these people, but I could imagine, BB's plan is to get a new actor (and possibly some other behind the camera positions) settled with one or two films and then step down, so that you don't have the complete overhaul at the same time. That would of course assume, that the new actor isn't a dud and the franchise is in full-on crisis mode in 2029...




    *Campbell is still working and of course has done two excellent "first Bonds", so he is the one "maybe" on the list.


    EDIT: As for the Goode discussion that has been going on: He is the only person I can think of who has a "rather cruel smile". Make of that what you will.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 2021 Posts: 17,728
    Fassbender is definitely the Bond that got away, for me. Would I trade him for Craig? I don't know. They'd have undoubtedly had fun with his multi-lingual abilities (I believe he also speaks French, as well as German obviously). Yes, it doesn't really matter whether an actor can actually speak other languages, but it would still be a nice feature.

    As far as Goode is concerned, I don't know. He does have that intense, serial killer presence in almost everything. He's a lot like Clive Owen to me, in that sense. He could be another Double-Oh, maybe.

    Fassbender really is the best Bond we have never had. Personally I would trade him for Craig, and think he has such potential that I would have no problem with him taking the role now.

    Yes, Fassbender would be a good choice. He's probably too old to be the new Bond actor now though. That said, next year he'll be 45 which was the age Roger Moore was when he took on the role in Live and Let Die. I'm not really sure if Eon would go with an actor of that age nowadays, although they obviously have in times past. As well as Moore, his successors Dalton and Brosnan were both in their forties by the time they were cast as Bond. It would all depend on the direction that they want to take the Bond films after the current Craig reboot era. Fassbender would be ideal if they were looking to return to a more seasoned agent and not a rookie as Bond started out as in Casino Royale (2006).

    I wouldn't have a problem with them going with him either to be honest. That said, the only film I've thus far seen him in was the Harry Hole film The Snowman (2017) and it was sadly a disjointed mess. I understand that that's probably not his best work though.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Denbigh wrote: »
    I don't think Harry Styles will ever be considered, but I hope we're not ruling him out (or calling him an idiot) because he sometimes dresses effeminately...

    The only reason, for me, that is valid for ruling him out is his lack of experience. And that is likely to change. I don't know if he wishes to continue acting or not, but he wasn't bad in Dunkirk at all considering he had thrown himself in at the deep end. If he develops leading man capabilities, why not? The photo posted above proves he looks good in a nice suit.

    It's not like we've never had a super-masculine version of Bond embrace effeminacy before!

    o3tifcg3hx541.jpg

    Roger Moore once played a woman as well (the aunt of Sinclair in The Persuaders). He was very convincing I must say.

    That sounds like something I really need to see! I bought the DVD boxset of The Persuaders a while back but haven't got round of watching any episodes of it yet. I remember seeing a little bit of it back in the mid-1990s when Channel 4 decided to rerun the series.

    I can't remember the title of the episode, it was about the male members of the Sinclair family being murdered. Moore plays the Old English lady very convincingly.
  • Posts: 6,682
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Denbigh wrote: »
    I don't think Harry Styles will ever be considered, but I hope we're not ruling him out (or calling him an idiot) because he sometimes dresses effeminately...

    The only reason, for me, that is valid for ruling him out is his lack of experience. And that is likely to change. I don't know if he wishes to continue acting or not, but he wasn't bad in Dunkirk at all considering he had thrown himself in at the deep end. If he develops leading man capabilities, why not? The photo posted above proves he looks good in a nice suit.

    It's not like we've never had a super-masculine version of Bond embrace effeminacy before!

    o3tifcg3hx541.jpg

    Roger Moore once played a woman as well (the aunt of Sinclair in The Persuaders). He was very convincing I must say.

    That sounds like something I really need to see! I bought the DVD boxset of The Persuaders a while back but haven't got round of watching any episodes of it yet. I remember seeing a little bit of it back in the mid-1990s when Channel 4 decided to rerun the series.

    I can't remember the title of the episode, it was about the male members of the Sinclair family being murdered. Moore plays the Old English lady very convincingly.
    A Death in the Family IIRC. That bit with the falling castle door is pretty ingenious.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    mtm wrote: »
    I was listening to that long Nerdist 2015 podcast interview with Daniel Craig yesterday and I think it's interesting that he was saying he benefitted from that 15 years experience before he started playing Bond, and it's interesting to hear just how much focus it requires: he says how he never has time to go back to his trailer and has be on it 100% all day, no time for chatting to crew or anything like that. I think it's such a big all-encompassing role now that you need an actor who has a decent amount of experience and can handle that; I'd be surprised if they go for a complete unknown.
    Connery could just about do that, but it's not as if he hadn't starred in movies already, and don't forget he had started and quit the role in a time shorter than the period between Spectre and No Time To Die! :)
    So if the actor needs to have had at least 10 years experience in film or TV, who would that leave out of the under-40 actors who we might expect to be in the running for Bond?

    Purely my own thoughts on the matter:

    Sam Clafin
    Henry Cavill
    Nicholas Hoult
    Aaron Taylor-Johnson
    Dan Stevens
    Callum Turner

    The above six have headlined a number of movies, and have a decent amount of film work in general in their CV. I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson is talented but seems shifting more toward supporting roles. Dan Stevens just gets in under the 40 age limit, but seems to be moving away from action-man roles (IIRC he says he wouldn't want to muscle-up for a role again after The Guest). Callum Turner I added at the last minute - he does seem to be headlining smaller movies and getting supporting work in bigger films, plus he's co-staring in that miniseries from the makers of Band of Brothers which could be huge for him; Cavill is probably free from the Superman role if rumours are to be believed, but I think is the least respected actor in this grouping; he does have those looks, though, and all that big movie experience, so maybe those things balance him out. Hoult has supported in a lot of big-budget films, and starred in a lot of lower-budget ones, plus he was apparently in the running for Batman. Clafin seems to have been quietly working away in films for years now, and the Hunger Games showed he could bulk up when needed.

    I think Clafin, Cavill, and Hoult are the most likely to be in the mix for final candidates for Bond. Cavill might well be too big a name for Eon, and price himself out of the game. Probably not got enough respect as an actor for Eon's current vison of the Bond franchise as a prestige talent outfit, either. But you never know.

    The following actors are all ones who've been suggested in the past but don't have such high-profile film work:

    Richard Madden
    Aidan Turner
    Tom Bateman
    Oliver Jackson-Cohen
    Theo James
    James Norton

    Aidan Turner is often mentioned in regards to the role, but mainly sticks to TV. I don't know what that means for his chances. Theo James seemed like a rising star when Divergent came out, but after the film series crashed he's been kind of low-profile, imo. Madden is mainly TV, though playing Ikaris in Marvel's The Eternals might change all that. Bateman and Jackson-Cohen seem like they need a break-out film role to me. Norton... he's another TV guy.

    Obviously there are a lot more in this category, but I've run out of steam.

  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    Dragonpol wrote: »

    ...I wouldn't have a problem with them going with him either to be honest. That said, the only film I've thus far seen him in was the Harry Hole film The Snowman (2017) and it was sadly a disjointed mess. I understand that that's probably not his best work though.

    WHAT!?
    1cRi.gif
    2y5.gif
    Watch Inglorious Basterds and X Men First Class immediately! He's most Bond-like in those.

    Then his films with Steve McQueen..
    7203334f53e69a252e3bd4a8d3fc0622.gif
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    mtm wrote: »
    I was listening to that long Nerdist 2015 podcast interview with Daniel Craig yesterday and I think it's interesting that he was saying he benefitted from that 15 years experience before he started playing Bond, and it's interesting to hear just how much focus it requires: he says how he never has time to go back to his trailer and has be on it 100% all day, no time for chatting to crew or anything like that. I think it's such a big all-encompassing role now that you need an actor who has a decent amount of experience and can handle that; I'd be surprised if they go for a complete unknown.
    Connery could just about do that, but it's not as if he hadn't starred in movies already, and don't forget he had started and quit the role in a time shorter than the period between Spectre and No Time To Die! :)
    So if the actor needs to have had at least 10 years experience in film or TV, who would that leave out of the under-40 actors who we might expect to be in the running for Bond?

    Purely my own thoughts on the matter:

    Sam Clafin
    Henry Cavill
    Nicholas Hoult
    Aaron Taylor-Johnson
    Dan Stevens
    Callum Turner

    The above six have headlined a number of movies, and have a decent amount of film work in general in their CV. I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson is talented but seems shifting more toward supporting roles. Dan Stevens just gets in under the 40 age limit, but seems to be moving away from action-man roles (IIRC he says he wouldn't want to muscle-up for a role again after The Guest). Callum Turner I added at the last minute - he does seem to be headlining smaller movies and getting supporting work in bigger films, plus he's co-staring in that miniseries from the makers of Band of Brothers which could be huge for him; Cavill is probably free from the Superman role if rumours are to be believed, but I think is the least respected actor in this grouping; he does have those looks, though, and all that big movie experience, so maybe those things balance him out. Hoult has supported in a lot of big-budget films, and starred in a lot of lower-budget ones, plus he was apparently in the running for Batman. Clafin seems to have been quietly working away in films for years now, and the Hunger Games showed he could bulk up when needed.

    I think Clafin, Cavill, and Hoult are the most likely to be in the mix for final candidates for Bond. Cavill might well be too big a name for Eon, and price himself out of the game. Probably not got enough respect as an actor for Eon's current vison of the Bond franchise as a prestige talent outfit, either. But you never know.

    The following actors are all ones who've been suggested in the past but don't have such high-profile film work:

    Richard Madden
    Aidan Turner
    Tom Bateman
    Oliver Jackson-Cohen
    Theo James
    James Norton

    Aidan Turner is often mentioned in regards to the role, but mainly sticks to TV. I don't know what that means for his chances. Theo James seemed like a rising star when Divergent came out, but after the film series crashed he's been kind of low-profile, imo. Madden is mainly TV, though playing Ikaris in Marvel's The Eternals might change all that. Bateman and Jackson-Cohen seem like they need a break-out film role to me. Norton... he's another TV guy.

    Obviously there are a lot more in this category, but I've run out of steam.

    Thanks for putting that together.
    I think you are pretty on the money with the massive caveats that we don't know when casting will start in earnest (meaning this could shift, but then how much production and release will there be in the near future) and what Eon are looking for.
    This is way before my time, but the way people talk about those two engagements has given me the impression that Moore and Brosnan were both picked mainly on the back of TV work. Now that is of course decades ago and series like Remington Steele and The Saint are basically no longer produced, so the comparison is very scewed, but still. Maybe Game of Thrones, Bodyguard and Eternals is enough...

    My favourite at the moment is probably Hoult.
  • FatherValentineFatherValentine England
    Posts: 737
    QsCat wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »

    ...I wouldn't have a problem with them going with him either to be honest. That said, the only film I've thus far seen him in was the Harry Hole film The Snowman (2017) and it was sadly a disjointed mess. I understand that that's probably not his best work though.

    WHAT!?
    1cRi.gif
    2y5.gif
    Watch Inglorious Basterds and X Men First Class immediately! He's most Bond-like in those.

    Then his films with Steve McQueen..
    7203334f53e69a252e3bd4a8d3fc0622.gif

    Please add Haywire to this list, @Dragonpol.

    Also, regarding his age. I understand the argument against having him begin playing the role at 44/45. But he is one of those actors who has always looked older. Take a look at Hoult and compare him to Fassbender at the same age. Hoult looks far far younger than Fassbender did at a comparable age. Check out Fassbender in 300, where he would have been in his late twenties. He has lines on his brow and round his eyes. What I am saying is that, like Craig, he has always looked older than his years, and will likely remain looking as his does now for a number of years yet. I don't think that he's one of those men who will have a very rapid decline in age related appearance.

    I have said this before but if they employed him in the role now he could easily do three films in 9 years no problem.

    I doubt they will though. I fear we are looking at another decade before we see the next one, if the whole thing isn't already completely dead.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited March 2021 Posts: 17,728
    QsCat wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »

    ...I wouldn't have a problem with them going with him either to be honest. That said, the only film I've thus far seen him in was the Harry Hole film The Snowman (2017) and it was sadly a disjointed mess. I understand that that's probably not his best work though.

    WHAT!?
    1cRi.gif
    2y5.gif
    Watch Inglorious Basterds and X Men First Class immediately! He's most Bond-like in those.

    Then his films with Steve McQueen..
    7203334f53e69a252e3bd4a8d3fc0622.gif

    I'm sorry. I know it's not good enough but I just don't watch enough films. I have fallen rather behind with things cinematic. I do have a DVD copy of Inglorious Basterds though so at least watching it won't be a problem. :)
    QsCat wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »

    ...I wouldn't have a problem with them going with him either to be honest. That said, the only film I've thus far seen him in was the Harry Hole film The Snowman (2017) and it was sadly a disjointed mess. I understand that that's probably not his best work though.

    WHAT!?
    1cRi.gif
    2y5.gif
    Watch Inglorious Basterds and X Men First Class immediately! He's most Bond-like in those.

    Then his films with Steve McQueen..
    7203334f53e69a252e3bd4a8d3fc0622.gif

    Please add Haywire to this list, @Dragonpol.

    Will do, @FatherValentine! :)
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,890
    This fan made "Trailer" gives a hint.

  • Posts: 725
    I’ve been thinking, Rishi Sunak would’ve made a great Bond if he was an actor. But alas, he is just a great politician.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    Presuming NTTD gets released this year or next, Bond 26 is probably at least three years off.

    So which British actors are in their late 20s?
  • Posts: 725
    Lol. Probably won’t see Bond 26 until at least 2025. Perhaps 2030.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited March 2021 Posts: 5,921
    I'm not so sure.

    After Craig leaves, there are going to be a ton of "After Craig, is Bond over?" media stories. The producers will have a void to fill the likes they haven't seen since Connery in 1967. They may want to get ahead of that narrative, and if the past is prologue, they'll ask PWB to take first crack at a screenplay.

    Of course, if MGM sells, then Eon's timing will be out of their control.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    echo wrote: »
    Presuming NTTD gets released this year or next, Bond 26 is probably at least three years off.

    So which British actors are in their late 20s?
    ...and with that, we're back to Harry Styles.
  • Posts: 88
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    This actor is over 40, but definitely ageless. I present to you, my choice for the new James Bond...................

    kermit-the-frog-fozzie-bear-miss-piggy-beaker-rowlf-the-dog-png-favpng-AyjBxyv2zGQBPYyJ4PezKre0T.jpg

    I thought we were discussing the Bond to come after Craig not Craig himself as you posted above......Im
    echo wrote: »
    Presuming NTTD gets released this year or next, Bond 26 is probably at least three years off.

    So which British actors are in their late 20s?

    Tom Bateman is only 31 which isn't late 20s but its early 30s.
  • weboffearweboffear Scotland
    edited March 2021 Posts: 46
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    weboffear wrote: »

    Well it is March so the Mad March Hares are out in fashion. ;)
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    edited March 2021 Posts: 686
    echo wrote: »
    Presuming NTTD gets released this year or next, Bond 26 is probably at least three years off.

    So which British actors are in their late 20s?
    Having actually had a quick look, the only actors that have been mentioned here for 007 that are under 30 (and that I remember) are

    Sean Teale
    Douglas Booth
    Fionn Whitehead
    Harry Styles
    Tom Holland
    Timothée Chalamet

    Of that grouping I'd take Sean Teale.

    There are a whole bunch that are in their early thirties (Nicholas Hoult, Callum Turner, Jack O'Connell, Tom Bateman, Regé-Jean Page etc), but not that many still in their twenties.


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