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Havent think of Bateman but i think he should be consider.
That's a really interesting thought, it's true that pretty much all of the Bonds have come from working or middle class backgrounds, it's quite striking when you think about it really. Dalton's probably the poshest in terms of his background(?), and not really very posh at that.
That someone like Roger has an onscreen persona which is kind of a caricature of a posh, well-bred guy probably is to his strength, it's true. He's able to be on the outside looking in and making a comment on that, to some extent.
I think Sean Connery summed it up when he said the audience have to believe that Bond can throw a punch and seduce women, but there's very much that 'wink wink' element to everything. Not making fun of it necessarily, but playing it with that element of wryness, like the actor's in on the fantasy to some extent. It makes sense. Trying to lean too much into that refined side of Bond without, say, Moore's eyebrow raises or Connery's wry smile would be odd, and it just makes sense someone with distance might be able to get it a bit more (Bond is, after all, a character who kills for a living and has a ruthless streak to him. He'd either come off as a psychopath if the actor tried to authentically replicate that ex-boarding school, upper middle class image, or it'd be unconvincing).
Again, it's my major issue with the idea of Leo Suter as Bond. I don't know his background, but he has that 'nice Oxford boy' feel to him, at least to me. It's probably great for Lynley incidentally.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/apr/01/christopher-eccleston-impossible-for-me-to-become-an-actor-today
The opposite can be true as well: Humphrey Bogart was a posh boy from an upper class background, a doctor's son if I'm not mistaken, yet he played tough guys, cops, private eyes and gangsters, very much working class.
Have you seen a Roger Moore Bond film? Yes he was the son of a policeman, but didn't come off that way at all. You think he must've went to Eton and Oxford. Same thing with Pierce Brosnan, you feel he must come from an upper class background because he comes off as high class and high taste even in interviews despite his humble beginnings.
I get the sense that Roger's Dad was well-bred and well-adjusted despite his occupation. Just because you're a policeman doesn't mean you can't be a gentleman.
In that case I’d say Jacob Elordi would be a very good chance of being cast.
Although he’s rather tall, he could still play Bond. He’s had a relatively quick rise to stardom and is really making a name for himself.
Didn't know that! I know Daniel Day Lewis (whose Dad was the Poet Laureate at one point, seemingly grew up in a privileged household, and who started his career playing working class characters) claimed he moved to London in his teens and learnt to speak with a particular accent in order to fit in. It's interesting.
Yes I've obviously seen a Roger Moore Bond film ;) As we said Moore has this odd irony to him that almost seems like he's doing a pastiche of that 'gentlemanly' idea (the eyebrow raises, the smirks etc. Again, it helps that Bond can be harder edged and sometimes not very gentlemanly).. It's not something you quite get if you watch an actor like, say David Niven, playing a gentlemanly character. It's... different. Brosnan never stuck me as being from an upper class background. He has this strange Transatlantic accent with a bit of Irish in there. It makes him quite enigmatic if anything. You get the sense he's sophisticated but not really part of any specific social group. Same for Moore to some extent.
Personally, I can't imagine either slapping backs at any 'old boy' meetings or whatever. Having met a few people who have attended Oxford and boarding schools (who, yes, are quite posh) they really don't remind me of those sorts. I can acknowledge there's an element of fantasy there that kind of works when the film states that these specific Bonds went to Oxford at one point or are hyper educated or whatever (and because they come off as so knowledgable, confident, and smooth you just kind of go with the silliness - yes, of course Bond did a course and can speak Japanese, or tell you about very specific plants etc. Yes, of course Bond is doing something at a university and is sleeping with the female professor. That sort of thing. The actors themselves don't fit into a 'type' and are quite individualistic though if that makes sense. Perhaps these are subtleties not immediately apparent to American audiences either, so it can get a bit lost with certain people... anyway, my point is these actors clearly never attended Oxford, and there's a heavy dose of irony).
Amazon is all about the algorithm.
And they'll want to go for the younger audience (this is the youngest Bond #7 is going to be) so it's going to really matter how many Instagram or TikTok followers the actor has. This tilts more toward Elordi than the holy trio of Mescal, Dickinson, and O'Connor (all sort of Craig-like but Eon isn't involved anymore).
Just my two cents.
I there's any creedence to the Marsh fellow, that would suggest otherwise.
I highly doubt Marsh will get it.
If anything, I expect Amazon to lean into the more famous options, as they did with director and writer. That could give us a Cavill or Elordi. Just depends how much name recognition they want.
I doubt Marsh will get it either, I just feel if they're testing no names like him, they might be willing to cast someone of a similar ilk.
And starring in a BBC or ITV series has been a launchpad for actors like Paul Mescal. Give Suter a year or two and he might be at just the right point to be Bond.
My prediction is they’ll take to heart what EON said publicly about casting Bond - that they ideally should go for a 30 something year old, that they should prioritise gravitas and not their fame etc. In fact I get the sense the deal with Amazon is a major reason why EON were saying those things publicly - to assert some sense of their creative approach. I think Amazon will want to prove to fans and general audiences they can pick the right actor. They’ll want Bond 7 to be a really good one.
In that sense I don’t think we’re getting Henry Cavill or Tom Holland. Both would reek of stunt casting. Appeal will come into it in conversations, but they’ll go through the process of auditions and try to get the right actor/the one who’s committed. And ultimately it’s about who they can actually get. Elordi is an option, but he’s unlikely in my opinion (again, I can imagine he’d turn it down). To some extent it’s the same with Dickinson. Honestly, I think PR will be used to build up the next actor no matter who it is, and there are many ways they can go. If it’s Leo Suter, they’ll frame him as a unique talent who just channeled Bond (regardless of how true it is). If it’s Callum Turner we might get tales of EON seriously considering him when they were in control/he was less famous (so similar tales Moore and Dalton were granted by Cubby, this idea that they were predestined for the part… again, regardless of how true).
I guess what I mean by who they can get is they have to go from who’s the best option from a certain number of candidates. I’m sure they’ll consider popularity and how audiences will respond to the actor, but I don’t think we’re getting an ‘algorithm Bond’.
The artisan, quirky quality of Broccoli and Wilson--which I think will be missed in retrospect--is gone.
I mean, Amazon in this case are made up of the people chosen to make these films and their executives. It seems to me a case where they’ve thrown money at prestige talent in an attempt to replicate the heights of EON and prove to audiences they can helm the franchise. Not saying it’s all sunshine and roses, but to some degree they’ll have to let the talent they’ve hired find the next Bond and make this film, even with specific considerations in mind. And ultimately it really has to be a case of ‘who’ in regards to the next actor, not a vague ‘type’ we or even Amazon think will work.
To be fair, hiring a well-known name isn't new in Hollywood. If they have money, it's almost the norm.
I personally think they'll go for a more established actor just naturally (not an A-lister, but an actor with some notable credentials behind them). But we'll see.