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Comments
Yeah, circa 2005. He was maybe my favorite then, with James Purefoy.
He is superb actor
Never heard of him. Tick.
European. Tick.
Looks good. Tick.
I love an unknown to the masses, especially if they’re European.
Mads Mikkelsen was a perfect villain for CR. Maybe an actor like this could be what Bond 26 needs.
Great shout out @Ludovico
That’s a lovely thought, he’s really chilling in that film.
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if we got someone as big as Cillian Murphy, Adrian Brody, Tilda Swinton, Viggo Mortensen, Gary Oldman etc. Slightly lesser knowns, but still recognisable options could be Jodie Comer, Vincent Cassel, David Dastmalchian, Matthias Schoenaerts... those sorts of names.
Maybe if a lesser known European actor does something relatively notable to British/American audiences in the next couple of years and makes an impact we could get someone a bit more left field (I dunno, someone like Luca Marinelli I guess I can see making a splash with something and getting noticed... maybe... there are many potential names you could throw in as hypotheticals). I don't think they'll purposely go for a little known actor though, and I don't see much benefit in them doing so. It goes back to Danny Boyle wanting Tomasz Kot for the villain of his Bond film. It's not that he's a bad actor (I'm sure he'd be a perfectly functional villain, although maybe not a great one) - it's just that for a Bond movie nowadays you have to make sure the villain can match up to the lead and that audiences are drawn to the villain even just from the trailer. Generally speaking it's a bit easier to accomplish this when the actor is a big personality with experience of having a show stealing secondary/villain role like Javier Bardem or even Rami Malek, rather than someone like Mathieu Amalric (ie. lesser known and more subtle character actors). They might luck out and get a lesser known, but charismatic future star like Mads Mikkelsen who puts in an amazing performance, but I'd bank on them getting someone who many will recognise.
You can't get much more prestige than Oldman. I'm sure he was considered for Bond villain roles in the past, and honestly, I think he could have made a fantastic Renard. He's older now, so I think he'd give us something a bit different, and if he was interested in a villain role for Bond 26 I'd be up for seeing him do it.
If EON was still in control my money would be on Cillian Murphy, because he fits the bill of the actors they cast for villains in the lsst three Craig movies: famous veteran with a recent Oscar win. I wouldn't be against Murphy, but I can't say I'd be enthusiastic. I preferred lesser known actors with more imposing physiques (I'm a tad bored with lean main villains). But yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if Cillian Murphy is cast as the villain.
Ludovico wrote: »
Christopher Wagelin, who I think I mentioned before. Swedish, little known, been around for a little while, young and imposing enough to be physically threatening, but mature enough to have gravitas. I really enjoy him in Ronja the Robber's Daughter.
Thanks. He's a convincing leader of men in Ronja. Sure, his role isn't really villainous, he plays a loving father with a heart of gold, albeit a brigand one. I could see him in a more sinister role. And Scandinavian have this drone-ish voice when they speak English that often comes off as creepy.
But I also like it when an actor is cast in a role out of the norm, outside the box.
I'm thinking Steve Carell in Foxcatcher or Robin Williams in Insomnia type roles.
I like it when an actor takes on (and then nails) a part you wouldn't expect them too.
Neither do I (I said time and again I want more brutish looking main villains) but what I mean is that it might indicate who they might choose. Again, EON is no longer in control, so for all I know all my speculations will be proven wrong and they'll cast Pedro Pascal (pretty much my nightmare scenario).
He's overexposed now. Cast in too many projects. I dream of a week without Pedro Pascal.
He wouldn't necessarily be my choice either, although it depends. I think having a more established actor works best when they go the Javier Bardem route - that's to say they don't just have them do a repeat of their most famous villain role (both Silva and Chigurgh are psychopathic, but they come off very differently - the former's a menacing, almost gleeful trickster and the latter a robotic killing machine).
I think they'd need to be careful about having a lesser known actor take on the villain role though. There are some wonderful, lesser known character actors, including some who have played Bond villains, who simply won't make much of an impact. Might just be because they're too chameleonic without their own unique charisma.
As for Gary Oldman, maybe an older Bond villain might be a good way of doing something different compared to the Craig era villains. Depends on the character though.
Yeah, a female villain or henchwoman would be great. Or both! I think having slightly lesser know, unique looking actors play the henchwoman is more of an option (I think, for example, Agathe Rousselle would be great in such a role, although I guess there'd be precedent for it going from Titane).
He can play many different variations of a villain depending on where the story takes us.
I’d like to see what Bryan Cranston could do as a Bond villain sometime. Or Mark Rylance.
There are lots of good actresses out there, if the role is attractive enough. Samara Weaving can look kind of creepy, she might be good a female psychopath.
Murphy would be a safe (very safe) choice. Maybe too predictable for my taste, but because he's safe and predictable I suspect he's going to be cast. Bryan Cranston, maybe ten years ago, now I think he's past hype, so to speak.
Oh, if there's a Mads Mikelsen type who is lesser known outside their country, but has a distinctive screen presence, charisma, and a unique take on the villain, I'd say go for them. As with Mikelsen they may well become a break out actor in the future anyway.
But I think it's always worth saying lesser known character actors who 'blend into the role' don't always give us the best villains necessarily. Curt Jurgens, Mathieu Amalric, Julian Glover etc. I think all their villains lack the personality that we could have gotten from perhaps more dynamic actors. In fact, I'd argue if TSWLM is crying out for anything, it's a more distinctive, bigger name actor as the villain. It'd just suit the scale of the film. Not to say lesser knows are always chameleonic character actors who might give us a flat baddie (it depends). And of course an Oscar winning actor could give us an underwhelming performance too.
Anthony Burgess had mentioned "a gross Orson Welles in a wheelchair" for TSWLM. Not sure how serious he was or if Welles was ever considered. This was before the villain was named Stromberg. But with all the flaws I find to TSWLM, I do like Curt Jurgens in it. The character, not so much, but I think his appearance and deliver were perfect. I quite like Kristatos and Greene too, although I think the latter needed a Grant or Oddjob type henchman to beef him up a bit.
And that's something else they need to take into account: a Bond villain does not work in a vacuum or alone. He needs to be well surrounded, according to his strengths and weaknesses. Sean Bean and Telly Savalas were physically imposing enough so they didn't need bodyguards to increase their aura of danger. A bunch of mooks surroundings them were enough. But Donald Pleasence, Louis Jourdan, Christoph Waltz, well, they did. If they cast Cillian Murphy or, say, Eddie Redmayne, I hope they back them up with a suitably nasty looking muscle man.
Yeah, and they have to work out what makes the villain a convincing threat to Bond and everyone around them. They don't have to be physically imposing or even take Bond on directly (as you said, a good henchman or henchwoman can do that), but there has to be something about the character that puts Bond through the wringer, and in turn convinces the audience this person is dangerous.
It's why I think Greene in QOS is a missed opportunity. He's such a nasty character who gets inside people's heads, and yet his final confrontation with Bond is a fight. It doesn't quite work because we know Bond will win. Would have been cool to see Greene manage to trip Bond up a bit by taunting him and then wounding him during the fight.
But yeah, it depends on what they're going for. I think they'll want a big baddie for this one though, a character that'll really make an impact.
Needs to check them. Friedel looks kinda weird, which isn't a bad thing for a Bond villain.