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Yes that is quite interesting, I've never really considered that. I think it's more a reflection of the acting profession at the time rather than a requirement of the role, but it shows there's no need to get a genuine posh lad playing him.
Fleming wanted Cary Grant, didn't he? And we all know he was born to factory workers in Bristol.
Although as I say, I don't know a huge amount about Dalton or Craig. Dalton was half American wasn't he?
It's quite funny how four of the Bonds all ended up as Americans! And we technically have our first American James Bond right now.
:)
And he has that mysterious look that no one else seems to have.
I don't think anyone mentioned the class background of an actor as important. It was just a discussion leading from @FatherValentine's "Cubby approach" comment.
Yes, it might be several factors at play, and probably a few coincidences too. But it's acting though, you can play anything or anyone, as long as you do it convincingly.
I think Dalton's mother was American?
Never though about the fact that four of the actors are now living outside the UK. Might be more practical to live in the US (for the high-paid Hollywood roles etc.) than in the UK?
Ah, OK. I've always associated Chelsea as a place for the wealthy.
You don’t think he’s suitable. Fine.
But the press hyped him up as a Bond candidate based on The Night Manager. His character background in that was ex military.
The ‘fey prissiness’ isn’t something the press or critics mentioned. Many saw a Bond candidate. You don’t...... It’s all opinion.
I know it's an opinion, that's why I phrased it as an opinion ("I don't think so at all, no"), whereas you phrased your opinions as fact ("Hiddleston was convincingly tough"). But trying to say that 'many' saw it is an attempt to devalue my opinion, and that of those who have agreed on this thread, as that of the minority, which is rather tiresome. You'd probably call it trolling.
Also, your reporting skills are in doubt after thinking Roger Moore saying he didn't say something meant the opposite! :D
A couple of lazy journos might have seen a TV show which had the same plot as Licence To Kill and decided to fill a couple of hundred words with more 'this guy should be Bond' rubbish without really thinking about it- what does that prove? They do that with every guy they see in a dinner suit. See James Norton. That's if you even read the articles right- they probably said he wasn't suitable! :D
You said; “He’s believable at fey prissiness”. Sounds like a statement to me. 🤣
Anyway, I’m hoping for another season of ‘The Night Manager’ which is apparently in production.
Agreed, it does have a similar plot to LTK....probably why I liked it so much.
Same with Cavill, Tom Hardy, James Norton, etc.
I'd almost rather Eon not recast Bond and just do a LEGO Bond adaptation next time over some of the potential Bonds mentioned.
If his parents did ‘right to buy’ in the 70’s/ 80’s they’ll have resold for a fortune now!!
I must say....I’m not convinced by him as a Bond. But he plays ‘upper class’ very well!!
Shocking.
He’s rich now though. If he lands Bond he can retire afterwards.
It probably does when taken out of context from the sentence it followed on from, which began with 'I could believe'. You're not very good at this.
I think 'Little Drummer Girl' was the follow up, I wouldn't expect a direct sequel.
The only person from Night Manager I think we're likely to see in a Bond film is Olivia Coleman.
I can't speak to his skills as an electrician, so I don't know if it was.
That is true. And Fleming's first recorded choice for Bond was Richard Burton, the son of a coal miner and barmaid.
Fleming's Bond comes from a well-off background but not an aristocratic or very wealthy one, and the character has little to do with conventional upper class English social life. On a rare visit to Blades we're told "Bond knew that there was something alien and un-English about himself. He knew that he was a difficult man to cover up. Particularly in England."
Casting actors from working class backgrounds to play Bond is a way of acknowledging that Bond doesn't quite fit in a stereotypical upper-class world. He moves through such worlds, but he also stands somewhat apart from the class system, in the way a working-class actor who successfully plays upper-class parts does.
Additionally, Fleming wanted his English/British gentleman hero to have the toughness of a Hammett/Chandler hero. Casting an actor from working class backgrounds is a way of helping Bond retain an element of toughness--a down-to-earth quality--and avoid coming across as too effete or privileged.
Lastly, it has often been the case that working class actors who became stars--like Cary Grant, Sean Connery and Roger Moore--ended up portraying a version of upper-classness that seemed more suave and classy than the real thing.
Yeah sure...now it’s out of context to suit the current rant. 🤔🤣😂
I must say, the punctuation and grammar in your posts is vastly improving though....well done mate. 👍👏
Anyhow....Hiddleston for Bond.
I haven’t seen him in enough to comment either way TBH, with regards to Bond. I’ll watch out for him though.
I think Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton were the bonds who didn't take inspiration from each other, as they were so different. We can find a bit of Connery and Moore in Brosnan's Bond and we can also find Connery and especially Dalton in Craig's Bond....Maybe a bit of the 'Everyday Man' Lazenby too. I guess we'll see how Bond 7 goes about his own inspiration.
It's just simple reading and comprehension. 'Out of context' means you take things away from their surroundings and in doing so make them no longer fully understandable e.g. 'Roger Moore was reported to have said a racist comment but explained his quote had been taken out of context'. You'll get there with practice, I'm sure.
But the main point is to not dismiss others' words as 'opinion' when you keep stating yours as nothing but fact.
Yeah I think Brosnan has always maintained that he's never watched Dalton's films (or Living Daylights at least) because losing the role wasn't a good experience for him. He did say in that GoldenEye watchalong that he was sort of consciously going for a Connery/Moore middle ground, which I thought was quite an interesting admission.
You'd imagine the others would have all caught each others' work at some point, if out of curiosity than anything else. I think Lazenby would have certainly taken inspiration from Connery because he wasn't an experienced actor and there wasn't really any other known way to play Bond at that time.
Interesting post. It kind of matches up to how the screen version of Bond is actually shown to be a bit more cultured and elegant than Fleming's was. The movie one is famous for always being in the most elegant fashions and never wearing the same thing twice, but the book Bond tended to wear the same outfit much of the time and only owned about two (possibly three) suits, one of which was even described as being a little beaten up. I think he even wears jeans at one point.
Reminds me of reading Christopher Wood's TSWLM novel, and there's a weird bit where Bond looks out of a window and thinks about how he's saving 'the England he loves', and it struck me as being really out of whack with Fleming's Bond. He always feels, as you say, an outsider, and mostly seems to be doing his job because he loves the thrills and hates his enemies over any particular patriotic motivation. Anyone who thinks the 'Scottish peasant' is an aristocratic toff hasn't really got the thrust of the character from the novels, if you ask me.
Yeah, fair assessment.
Thanks for the support. Hopefully, with practice, I can get the hang of it going forward. 👍
Just like you’ve improved your punctuation and grammar in your recent posts.
+1.
Brosnan would have benefited from being ‘his own man.’ He was never as suave/ tough as Connery or suave/ smooth as Moore. It’s probably why I felt he was a step down from Dalton who seemed to only gain inspiration from Fleming.
I'm sure you think you're hitting a nerve with that but I honestly haven't a clue why you're saying it. There's rarely anything wrong with my ability to write, and when there is it's because this is a web forum that I'm dashing off replies quickly on: it's not exactly a carefully proofread dissertation. Hence why most people with manners don't mention if anyone else makes a spelling error on places like these. If you have to resort to trying to pick me up on mistyping a word occasionally (especially when I haven't) then you really are having to scrape the bottom of the trolling barrel.
Rest assured I'll now be watching out for you doing it of course. For example: there should never be a space after a slash, so "He was never as suave/ tough as Connery" is bad punctuation. Try harder. 'Going forward' is a superfluous nonsense phrase etc.
Or maybe you could stop trying to turn this into an irritating pissing contest and just talk normally.
Fassbender has managed to balance dramatic roles in smaller films with huge blockbusters, much like Craig.
While Bond doesn’t necessarily need an actor with as much range and talent as Fassbender, I think he’d bring an interesting emotional dynamic to the character.
Also, Craig has already ‘raised the stakes’ with regards to acting quality within the role.
I guess artistically, it could be interesting, it might open the door for very high level actors who might not want to sign long term (Bale, Hardy, Fassbender), and for actors who are a bit older.
On the other hand, it goes against the way the franchise has worked until now. And it is probably not something Eon would want to do, as long as they don't have a problem getting an actor they like. And the trend in movies is long franchises and connected series of movies.