Casting suggestions: the pros and cons

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  • Posts: 372
    I honestly cannot think of one good reason why Mark Strong would not be a fine addition to the Bond world, its not just a case of liking someone. Talking of cliche's wouldnt having another continental accented villian be a cliche in itself. Four in a row would be a bit predictable
  • Posts: 14,797
    See my posts above. And he played villains a lot. I mentioned people here that are great actors, great potential villains, but I did mention reservations. This is the whole point of this thread.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I think Mark Strong would be a great villain, I've said it in the past, but yes, he's generally a typecast 'bad guy.' One I've always been interested in the idea of seeing play a Bond villain is Hugh Laurie: he can play a dark, sinister, hates-everyone-and-everything kind of guy, but he hasn't been in any big films in quite some time, nor has he really been in any action sequences in films that I can recall. I'm sure with the right timing and training he could be great, though.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Ludovico wrote:
    Leo and Michael Caine are way too big in my book. But I do like the Natalie Dormer suggestion. Very exotic look. I like that pick in a role that is sort of sinister. I feel like she could very well pull off someone who Bond isn't sure he can trust.

    Suggestion: Vincent Cassel as Villain

    Pros:
    - I think he's big enough to where people will recognize him and other good work he's done, but he's not so big that you have to worry about him overshadowing the cast. This has a chance to be his most famous role so far, which is a positive thing in my book.
    - he played a terrifically despicable and yet unsettlingly engaging quasi-bad-guy in Black Swan.
    - he's comparable in age and look to Craig and I think they have the potential for good back and forths like the ones that made Skyfall great.
    - he has the striking features that can set a villain apart

    Cons
    - I've seen him dance but I've never seen him fight. Hand-to-hand combat with Craig, or anyone else, could be a laughably one-sided affair
    - I'm not sure how he stacks up as the one to follow immediately after Bardem. But that goes for whoever they pick, basically.
    - he's french, so he sets up the stereotypical British vs. French tension.

    Vincent Cassel would make an excellent physical match for Craig's Bond I think. He played real-life criminal Jacques Mesrine in two movies (duology?) and he was plain nasty. I have no problem, if well choregraphed, seeing him in a hand to hand combat and being credible in it. But your other objections stand very well, especially the last one. Also, he played nasty and evil French men over and over again, so his casting may seem lazy. And maybe it is too early after Amalric to cast a French actor.

    For fighting watch The Crimson River, he's an easy match for Craig.

    And he is a truly good actor.
  • Posts: 14,797
    Creasy47 wrote:
    I think Mark Strong would be a great villain, I've said it in the past, but yes, he's generally a typecast 'bad guy.' One I've always been interested in the idea of seeing play a Bond villain is Hugh Laurie: he can play a dark, sinister, hates-everyone-and-everything kind of guy, but he hasn't been in any big films in quite some time, nor has he really been in any action sequences in films that I can recall. I'm sure with the right timing and training he could be great, though.

    Now Hugh Laurie, that makes for an interesting Pros and Cons analysis, for the reasons you brought forward and more. I will try to do it tomorrow.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    @Ludovico, I'm looking forward to it. I think he would make one hell of a villain.
  • Dwayne Johnson:

    Pros:
    He's actually a decent actor. I haven't seen Snitch or Pain & Gain, but he's supposed to be the best part about both.
    He's charismatic, but probably not enough to truly outshine Bond.
    He's physically imposing, which would be helpful as either a henchman or Bond's ally.

    Cons:
    Still has the stigma of being a pro wrestler, which could conflict with the somewhat more sophisticated tone of Skyfall.
    He's also more of a major action star, neither of which fit well with the Bond series, although Skyfall featured more major movie stars than past Bond films have.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I won't lie, I would be more than excited if Dwayne Johnson played a villain. He is a really good actor, and I can't imagine what it would be like watching Craig and Johnson fight one another. That's the kind of big, brutish villain I'm talking about that I want to see Bond fight.
  • edited December 2013 Posts: 3,236
    Creasy47 wrote:
    I won't lie, I would be more than excited if Dwayne Johnson played a villain. He is a really good actor, and I can't imagine what it would be like watching Craig and Johnson fight one another. That's the kind of big, brutish villain I'm talking about that I want to see Bond fight.

    I think he's more of a henchman type, but he's a big enough star that they might shy away from that. Maybe if they just make him the most prominent one of at least the Craig years that will work out. I know he'd want to, since his grandfather had a small part as a henchman in YOLT. Having him involved might actually bring the henchman back to prominence, since we haven't had a noticeable one since Zao (unless you count Elvis as noticeably awful), and a truly good one since Ourumov and Xenia Onatopp.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I'd enjoy seeing him as the villain, though because of how popular is, you're right, he could play one truly memorable henchman. In my dream world, he could be the body guard of the female head of QUANTUM.
  • Creasy47 wrote:
    I'd enjoy seeing him as the villain, though because of how popular is, you're right, he could play one truly memorable henchman. In my dream world, he could be the body guard of the female head of QUANTUM.

    Played by whom? Tilda Swinton and Rachel Weisz are usually mentioned. I can see Tilda Swinton, but Rachel Weisz would be weird, and not just because she's Daniel Craig's wife.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I think Weisz could do well, but when I picture it, Tilda Swinton has the role. I think she would be fantastic. I've always thought her, or Brigitte Nielsen from 'Beverly Hills Cop II.'
  • Posts: 7,653
    Creasy47 wrote:
    I'd enjoy seeing him as the villain, though because of how popular is, you're right, he could play one truly memorable henchman. In my dream world, he could be the body guard of the female head of QUANTUM.

    Played by whom? Tilda Swinton and Rachel Weisz are usually mentioned. I can see Tilda Swinton, but Rachel Weisz would be weird, and not just because she's Daniel Craig's wife.

    Especially as she will most likely return to the Bourne sequel, if they continue with Jeremy Renner.

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    @SaintMark, I thought they were continuing with Jeremy Renner? Hope it's better than 'Legacy.'
  • Posts: 14,797
    Creasy47 wrote:
    I'd enjoy seeing him as the villain, though because of how popular is, you're right, he could play one truly memorable henchman. In my dream world, he could be the body guard of the female head of QUANTUM.

    we are getting off topic here. Anyway, I can't see Johnson in a Bond movie I'm afraid. I don't see him as much of an actor, even though yes, henchmen don't have to be played by thespian. He's still the Rock to too many people. I fear his presence would be distracting.
  • Posts: 7,653
    SaintMark wrote:
    Creasy47 wrote:
    I'd enjoy seeing him as the villain, though because of how popular is, you're right, he could play one truly memorable henchman. In my dream world, he could be the body guard of the female head of QUANTUM.

    Played by whom? Tilda Swinton and Rachel Weisz are usually mentioned. I can see Tilda Swinton, but Rachel Weisz would be weird, and not just because she's Daniel Craig's wife.

    Especially as she will most likely return to the Bourne sequel, if they continue with Jeremy Renner.

    Better than Legacy is fine with me as I enjoyed Legacy to begin with.

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    edited December 2013 Posts: 4,417
    Creasy47 wrote:
    @Ludovico, I'm looking forward to it. I think he would make one hell of a villain.

    Yes! Big fan of Hugh. I cast him as "M", and Stephen Fry as "Q", in one of those Dream Bond film back on KTBEU. Teferic actor.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    How was I going off topic? I was discussing the pros and cons of having Dwayne Johnson play a villain. Sounds to be pretty spot on in terms of the discussion.
  • Posts: 14,797
    Creasy47 wrote:
    How was I going off topic? I was discussing the pros and cons of having Dwayne Johnson play a villain. Sounds to be pretty spot on in terms of the discussion.

    More the pros than the cons. And it turned into a list of catching suggestions more than a Pros and Cons debate.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    So? Maybe I have more pros than cons. Trust me, this is nowhere near going off topic in terms of how some other threads turn out. But hey, I tried, I'll leave your topic so I don't derail it again.
  • Posts: 14,797
    Creasy47 wrote:
    So? Maybe I have more pros than cons. Trust me, this is nowhere near going off topic in terms of how some other threads turn out. But hey, I tried, I'll leave your topic so I don't derail it again.

    Maybe I was too zealous, sorry if I was.

    Okay, so anyway, here are the Pros and Cons of Hugh Laurie as a villain:

    Pros: -Right age now.
    -Household British name, but not a Hollywood star, so not so famous as to make his name outshine his role.
    -Now famous in the US because of House, that said again, not overtly so.
    -While he became famous in the UK for his comic characters, often of likeable idiot, he proved that he could play serious roles.
    -Playing a villain would be very much against type.
    -Obviously, a versatile actor. And he fought hard to be recognized as such and not merely a comic actor, so if he was to play a Bond villain, he'd fight for it, too.

    Cons:-The Brits know him for his comic roles, see above, so could find his villain unconvincing and/or him playing a villain distracting.
    -The Americans know him as House and may find him as a villain distracting for the same reason. And, again, distracting. I have every confidence Hugh Laurie's name would not outshine this hypothetical villain character, but I am not so sure about House.
    -Mostly a TV actor. That may seem like a small objection, but it is not. Not everyone makes the transition from small screen to big screen very well (and vice versa).
    -British. See above for my objection against casting a Brit as a villain.
    -His face may not be as banal as Colin Firth (see one of my earlier posts), but he does not look creepy or foreign like a Bond villain should be. Of course some good makeup could work and if they go the Silva route, who knows. But he still has an average British face.
    -People complain that we haven't seen a physical match for Craig Bond yet, and while I have no problem imagining Hugh Laurie as a leader, I cannot see him as much of a physical match.
  • Michael C Hall
    Pro -Great actor see Six Feet Under and Dexter
    Con -American
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