Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • Posts: 14,799
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    talos7 wrote: »
    Absolutely a strong contender... Yes, even without the facial hair.

    He will be even more suitable in 3 to 5 years.


    This guy will have a baby face until he's 80, no thanks.

    He'd be perfect for a gangster film then... ;)

    "Baby Nick"?

    I'm really not convinced about Hoult. Thar said, good casting call or not, I do think he's got a better chance than most.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I'm not really seeing the baby face: just looks like a face.

    Mind you in that interview he seemed uncomfortable when the interviewer brought it up, maybe he wouldn't want it.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    mtm wrote: »
    I'm not really seeing the baby face: just looks like a face.

    Mind you in that interview he seemed uncomfortable when the interviewer brought it up, maybe he wouldn't want it.

    I think it's the popular idea that Eon don't like candidates talking about it and that it will ruin your chances. Believe me, he wants it. He went for the Batman franchise, he obviously wants that steady money coming in. He has a young kid, artistic ambition is going to come second place to financial security (imo).
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Oh yes I forgot about Batman, that’s true.

    I thought this Private Eye piece was rather good :)
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    We're turning in circles again, but I really wonder whether they will go actor first or concept/screenwriters/director first.
    I think the Batman project, from the moment Matt Reeves took it over, was pitched as more artistic. Most of this is of course Director Bullshit, but he is talking about Hitchcock, Chinatown and Taxi Driver as inspirations. I feel that is important context for guys like Pattinson and Hoult to become involved. They didn't throw their hat in the ring just to generally play Batman, they were attracted to this specific incarnation of the character.
    So will young actors nowadays expect a studio to lay out a creative vision for the character and the core crew for the project to sign on? Craig seems to have had his own ideas about the character and told EON: "This is what I would do with the character. Take it or leave it." I wonder how this generation looks at a character like Bond and their own involvement in the creative process.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    I think we need a director first and announced very early, so him and EON can work out their differences before the screenplay process, to avoid another Boyle situation.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    We're turning in circles again, but I really wonder whether they will go actor first or concept/screenwriters/director first.
    I think the Batman project, from the moment Matt Reeves took it over, was pitched as more artistic. Most of this is of course Director Bullshit, but he is talking about Hitchcock, Chinatown and Taxi Driver as inspirations. I feel that is important context for guys like Pattinson and Hoult to become involved. They didn't throw their hat in the ring just to generally play Batman, they were attracted to this specific incarnation of the character.
    So will young actors nowadays expect a studio to lay out a creative vision for the character and the core crew for the project to sign on? Craig seems to have had his own ideas about the character and told EON: "This is what I would do with the character. Take it or leave it." I wonder how this generation looks at a character like Bond and their own involvement in the creative process.

    I remember Craig saying he wanted to see a script before he signed on as Bond.
  • Posts: 14,799
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Compton isn't quite to my taste as an actor.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,879
    Compston looks a bit like a young Ian Holm in some photos.

    Hoult should look the part in a few years. Let's keep in mind that faces can age/mature in unexpected ways.
  • Posts: 14,799
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.
  • edited April 2021 Posts: 12,837
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.

    He actually does intense/dangerous pretty well. His most famous role in Line of Duty does him a bit of a disservice on that front imo, makes him come across as a bit wet. But I think that’s just the character and the accent he does for it.

    Not Bond material at all (I don’t care about height in the same way others on here do, but 5ft 8 is probably my limit), but I could picture him as a henchman or something.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.

    He actually does intense/dangerous pretty well. His most famous role in Line of Duty does him a bit of a disservice on that front imo, makes him come across as a bit wet. But I think that’s just the character and the accent he does for it.

    Yeah I do often think the accent kind of limits him a bit.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.

    He actually does intense/dangerous pretty well. His most famous role in Line of Duty does him a bit of a disservice on that front imo, makes him come across as a bit wet. But I think that’s just the character and the accent he does for it.

    Not Bond material at all (I don’t care about height in the same way others on here do, but 5ft 8 is probably my limit), but I could picture him as a henchman or something.

    He did play a nasty assassin in an awful Sam Worthington-led film a few years back. While the film wasn't very good, he was pretty solid in it. A henchman-type role is a good shout.
  • Posts: 14,799
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.

    He actually does intense/dangerous pretty well. His most famous role in Line of Duty does him a bit of a disservice on that front imo, makes him come across as a bit wet. But I think that’s just the character and the accent he does for it.

    Not Bond material at all (I don’t care about height in the same way others on here do, but 5ft 8 is probably my limit), but I could picture him as a henchman or something.

    I must confess I struggle to see him as menacing. He could play a Boris or a Kronsteen type of role I guess, but he's got such a baby face!
  • edited April 2021 Posts: 12,837
    I’ve been watching Peaky Blinders again and it makes me sad that Cillian Murphy will never get it. He’s got a very unconventional look, but he’s so magnetic in that show that I don’t think it’d matter. His Tommy Shelby is pretty much a more depressed and broken version of the Bond I picture when I’m reading the novels, and he just oozes cool in a way few actors outside of Connery could manage. Again, under no illusions that he’ll even be a contender at this point, but I really think he could’ve nailed it.

    Watched Jungleland the other night too, after googling what Jack O’Connell was up to. Decent film and he was good in it as always. He’s one of the few names
    put forward who I can imagine matching Craig’s sense of danger. Only thing that could work against him is his accent. He does some American ones pretty well, but others (like his southern one in Godless) aren’t great. And I haven’t seen him do an RP one in anything. If he gets that down though then I think he’d be very good. Suppose it depends what they’re looking for, but if they wanted someone to match the danger and depth of Craig, then he’s one of the few young enough names who I think could manage it.
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Apparently, Martin Compton would love to get the role: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/martin-compstons-bond-dream-dashed-23942888.amp

    Seriously, anyone else than Compton himself thinks he'd do? Nothing against the guy but even Hoult doesn't have such a babe face.

    Compton's great, but he's not Bond.

    He seems like a nice enough guy, but he comes off as a good looking geek.

    He actually does intense/dangerous pretty well. His most famous role in Line of Duty does him a bit of a disservice on that front imo, makes him come across as a bit wet. But I think that’s just the character and the accent he does for it.

    Not Bond material at all (I don’t care about height in the same way others on here do, but 5ft 8 is probably my limit), but I could picture him as a henchman or something.

    I must confess I struggle to see him as menacing. He could play a Boris or a Kronsteen type of role I guess, but he's got such a baby face!

    Oh yeah, he’s definitely baby faced. But I think that can be creepy in its own way, with the right level of intensity behind it. Like Dario in Licence to Kill. Twenty one years old when he did that film, and Del Tero is still my favourite henchman of the franchise.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I’ve been watching Peaky Blinders again and it makes me sad that Cillian Murphy will never get it. He’s got a very unconventional look, but he’s so magnetic in that show that I don’t think it’d matter. His Tommy Shelby is pretty much a more depressed and broken version of the Bond I picture when I’m reading the novels, and he just oozes cool in a way few actors outside of Connery could manage. Again, under no illusions that he’ll even be a contender at this point, but I really think he could’ve nailed it.

    Agreed. He's got the presence for it, he would have been unconventional but good.

    I'm more interested in seeing someone play it incredibly well than just look nice with perfect black hair; and to be honest now we're six Bonds in, I like the idea of someone doing it a bit differently or bringing something different to it. A Tesco Value Connery just wouldn't be interesting. That's why I like some of the slightly more challenging suggestions here, it's nice to have your preconceptions of Bond shaken up a bit.

    I remember reading a biography of Michael Caine years ago where it said he was the only massive British male star of his generation not to play Bond, but it suggested that he could have done. It pointed towards his performance in Get Carter, which has got a bit of a Bond edge to it. I'm not 100% sure I agree with the idea of him playing 007, but on the other hand I do think he could he could have done, purely because he was a brilliant leading man and could have commanded the movie and in many ways that's all it needs. Really, Roger showed that to be true because he wasn't really Bond, and yet he was absolutely the star of those movies because he was a star and a natural leading man.
  • Posts: 12,837
    mtm wrote: »
    I’ve been watching Peaky Blinders again and it makes me sad that Cillian Murphy will never get it. He’s got a very unconventional look, but he’s so magnetic in that show that I don’t think it’d matter. His Tommy Shelby is pretty much a more depressed and broken version of the Bond I picture when I’m reading the novels, and he just oozes cool in a way few actors outside of Connery could manage. Again, under no illusions that he’ll even be a contender at this point, but I really think he could’ve nailed it.

    Agreed. He's got the presence for it, he would have been unconventional but good.

    I'm more interested in seeing someone play it incredibly well than just look nice with perfect black hair; and to be honest now we're six Bonds in, I like the idea of someone doing it a bit differently or bringing something different to it. A Tesco Value Connery just wouldn't be interesting. That's why I like some of the slightly more challenging suggestions here, it's nice to have your preconceptions of Bond shaken up a bit.

    I remember reading a biography of Michael Caine years ago where it said he was the only massive British male star of his generation not to play Bond, but it suggested that he could have done. It pointed towards his performance in Get Carter, which has got a bit of a Bond edge to it. I'm not 100% sure I agree with the idea of him playing 007, but on the other hand I do think he could he could have done, purely because he was a brilliant leading man and could have commanded the movie and in many ways that's all it needs. Really, Roger showed that to be true because he wasn't really Bond, and yet he was absolutely the star of those movies because he was a star and a natural leading man.

    Yeah completely agree, I’ve never been too fussed about the look. They need to be attractive and in decent shape obviously, but charisma, naturalism, and an ability to own the screen are much more important than height, hair colour and all that imo. Henry Cavill for example looks the part, but he‘s so wooden that whenever someone compares him to Brosnan on here (a genuine Moore esque movie star imo), I get offended on Pierce’s behalf. Give me a more unconventional/left field choice over someone like that any day.

    Agree on Moore too. I think he gets a pass from many because obviously we’ve all grown up with and love his films. But he’s got almost nothing in common with Fleming’s character, and if he’d never been cast, and someone suggested him on here? It wouldn’t go down well at all.

    I think a lot of people see Craig as a one off, and want to go back to a safer choice next time. But I’m with you personally. I think that should be the start of a new way of casting the character, now that the mould has been broken. Lets have some fresh feeling choices.
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 686
    I'm the opposite. I think the character is more important than the actor, or even the merits of an individual film. The actor should bend his style towards that of the character, and not change the character to fit the actor. Updating elements of the franchise is one thing, but to decide that anything goes as long as it makes money is a gateway to madness and the death of the franchise's identity, imo.

    The point about Moore's 007 being nothing like Fleming's is well taken, but it's also kind of my point: I loved the Moore films as a kid, but by the time you get to Octopussy he's playing a gentleman adventurer on a sex-tour, and the franchise desperately needed Dalton to reset Bond back to model.

    When you end up with Bond in space chasing Star Wars money you've gone too far; you're simply using Bond as a brand name stamped on a different product. It's not necessarily a bad product, but it could be it's own thing rather than a botched together legacy vehicle. To use an analogy inspired by the Moore years, a sports car converted into a submarine is never going to be as good as something conceived as a submarine from the get-go.

    I think Tim Roth is an amazing, charismatic actor. I think had he been given the role he would have made any Bond film he was in at least watchable. However I don't think he would have been right for the part as written. He would be interesting, but he would undoubtedly have become a different character to the one Fleming envisioned.

    I get I'm probably less of a Bond fan than many here, I've only read one Fleming novel and it wasn't really my thing, but... I don't get the people who basically want to shake things up by getting away from Fleming. The more you deviate from the OG concept, the more blurry the character becomes, and the more the horrible 'codename theory' gains ammunition. And I think once James Bond becomes just a name attached to a variety of super-spies, the more the character is diminished.

    By all means, if you have an actor that would be fantastic in the role but they have one thing that isn't right (in Daniel Craig's case mainly his hair, which admittedly looks terrible black), sure hire the guy; but I don't think that should mean that from then on hair colour doesn't matter. You need a certain amount of continuity before the whole thing falls apart, imo.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I'm the opposite. I think the character is more important than the actor, or even the merits of an individual film. The actor should bend his style towards that of the character, and not change the character to fit the actor. Updating elements of the franchise is one thing, but to decide that anything goes as long as it makes money is a gateway to madness and the death of the franchise's identity, imo.

    The point about Moore's 007 being nothing like Fleming's is well taken, but it's also kind of my point: I loved the Moore films as a kid, but by the time you get to Octopussy he's playing a gentleman adventurer on a sex-tour, and the franchise desperately needed Dalton to reset Bond back to model.

    When you end up with Bond in space chasing Star Wars money you've gone too far; you're simply using Bond as a brand name stamped on a different product. It's not necessarily a bad product, but it could be it's own thing rather than a botched together legacy vehicle. To use an analogy inspired by the Moore years, a sports car converted into a submarine is never going to be as good as something conceived as a submarine from the get-go.


    I'm not sure that analogy really works though, because a Lotus that turns into a submarine is awesome :D


  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    599811.jpg
    Where is everyone?...
  • Posts: 14,799
    Okay, okay, I'll try to relaunch the thread. I once suggested my son, who at four is still a bit young. But it made me think of something: lots of parents want to push their boys to become football players, hoping they'd become the next David Beckham. I wonder if any British father, or father of British boy's, would push them to become actor, hoping they'd become James Bond? For the record, my son will probably become an engineer anyway (hes obsessed with trains), but a father can dream.
  • QsCatQsCat London
    Posts: 251
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Okay, okay, I'll try to relaunch the thread. I once suggested my son, who at four is still a bit young. But it made me think of something: lots of parents want to push their boys to become football players, hoping they'd become the next David Beckham. I wonder if any British father, or father of British boy's, would push them to become actor, hoping they'd become James Bond? For the record, my son will probably become an engineer anyway (hes obsessed with trains), but a father can dream.

    Well I'm an actor and I've wondered how my dad would feel if I ended up playing Bond..
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Rich?
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    edited April 2021 Posts: 8,009
    QsCat wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Okay, okay, I'll try to relaunch the thread. I once suggested my son, who at four is still a bit young. But it made me think of something: lots of parents want to push their boys to become football players, hoping they'd become the next David Beckham. I wonder if any British father, or father of British boy's, would push them to become actor, hoping they'd become James Bond? For the record, my son will probably become an engineer anyway (hes obsessed with trains), but a father can dream.

    Well I'm an actor and I've wondered how my dad would feel if I ended up playing Bond..

    Mine once said it would be the only time he'd be happy about the person playing Bond being younger than him. :)

    Unfortunately that ship has sailed now anyway!
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Okay, okay, I'll try to relaunch the thread. I once suggested my son, who at four is still a bit young. But it made me think of something: lots of parents want to push their boys to become football players, hoping they'd become the next David Beckham. I wonder if any British father, or father of British boy's, would push them to become actor, hoping they'd become James Bond? For the record, my son will probably become an engineer anyway (hes obsessed with trains), but a father can dream.

    Yes, I certainly get that sentiment. For folks like us that are big into Bond but not into sports as our main obsession I think it's a natural enough wish to have. I'd even settle for a son that was a Bond continuation author! :)
  • Posts: 14,799
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Okay, okay, I'll try to relaunch the thread. I once suggested my son, who at four is still a bit young. But it made me think of something: lots of parents want to push their boys to become football players, hoping they'd become the next David Beckham. I wonder if any British father, or father of British boy's, would push them to become actor, hoping they'd become James Bond? For the record, my son will probably become an engineer anyway (hes obsessed with trains), but a father can dream.

    Yes, I certainly get that sentiment. For folks like us that are big into Bond but not into sports as our main obsession I think it's a natural enough wish to have. I'd even settle for a son that was a Bond continuation author! :)
    I'm not a fan of continuations so I'd rather write a Bond script. Or have my son write one. But he's gonna be an engineer, unless he develops an interest for acting. Which might happen as it runs in the family. His uncle (my wife's brother) got taught by Patrick Stewart, who encouraged him to go to Hollywood and try his luck, with his backing. But my brother-in-law decided to do marketing instead.
  • Posts: 14,799
    James Norton about the possibility of him being Bond: https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/28/james-norton-addresses-rumours-he-could-be-next-jame-bond-14483430/amp/

    He seems like a nice guy, but I can't see it, personally. He's just so darn bland.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    edited April 2021 Posts: 5,834
    Another one of my traditional posts ;) Just found this new image. Give the guy a few more years and more projects, I think he'll be more than ready. He is starring in Fukunaga's Masters of Air.

    Ez_dGXaXoAYKeoW.jpg
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