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Yes and no. The facts are that in every previous book Bond was referred to--by the characters and the narrator--as English. There were no indications otherwise. Fleming might have started researching Bond's roots years before Connery, with an eye to making the character share part of his own ancestry, but it was only after Connery was cast that Bond suddenly and loudly revealed his hidden heritage. In OHMSS Bond says "My father was a Scot and my mother was Swiss" and later tells Tracy "we can be married again in an English church, or Scottish rather. That's where I come from." Connery's casting prompted Fleming to stress Bond's latent Scottishness.
As for casting an American in the role--that would rightly be regarded as an insult to the British, for whom Bond is a national/cultural hero. Furthermore, we already know that American actors rarely succeed with convincing English accents, and even when they do there is still a note of play-acting in their performance. And the Bond films already have a large amount of Americans involved--casting an American as Bond would be a step too far. And it would be pointless, since Britain is renowned for the excellence of its actors--that is why they've even played quintessentially American roles, from Abraham Lincoln to Spider Man. There is very little chance of an American getting the part.
Such wild manipulations of the Bond character would be rejected today.
Bond is pretty sacred to fans and I've always loved the fact he's remained a character played by actors from the U.K. region...and one Australian. As fun as it is to watch Brolin's screen-test, I have a hard time thinking he would have lasted thru the rest of the '80's had he been cast.
I have this feeling, though if Eon does sell after B25, we might actually get an American actor as Bond.
Hollywood tends to cast whoever is currently popular or has a hit out at the moment. Bradley Cooper was getting cast in all kinds of roles a few years back-The A-Team film for instance. George Clooney got Batman, Shia Lebouf as well nailed the part of Indy's son after having a hit in the Transformers films. Robert Downey Jr got Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and now Perry Mason.
How would we feel if another producer were to cast, say Robert Downey Jr or Ben Affleck as Bond for their production? Or the Shia Lebouf equivalent for the 2020's?
Cary Grant was American (yes, I know he was originally English but bottom line is his nationality was American) and he could have played Bond better than any of the actors bar one imho.
If Clooney could do an English accent (he can't), I'd take him over all but 3 of the ones we've had.
So I'm not hung up on nationality. Best man for the job I say, wherever they may come from. Some folks have varied life experiences (which include residing in other countries) which may make them suitable irrespective of citizenship. Goran Visnjic was up for it at one point from what I heard and from my understanding he is Croatian/American.
I didn't know RDJ got Perry Mason. That's great news.
It will be interesting to see RDJ's revival of Perry Mason. I remember Goran being up for CR along with Julian McMahon and others. I always thought Cary Grant would have made a dashing Bond.
I really can't think of an American actor currently I'd find suitable for Bond, though I could picture someone casting Chris Pine or Chris Pratt just based on their current box office franchise appeal. I'm pretty selfish when it comes to Bond as I don't want a Bond actor known for another popular franchise. Often it becomes a one off like Val Kilmer doing Batman then The Saint.
However, I do feel we're living in an era where an actor completely unsuitable for Bond could get cast. I wonder post EON, would I actually go see a James Bond film starring someone like Ben Affleck or Shia Lebouf?
Had the internet forums existed in the Brosnan era to the level they do now- a similar topic might be whether we'd accept Bruce Willis or Jim Carrey as Bond. Back then we'd probably laugh at the idea of Willis ordering a martini. Today it seems feasible to ponder the possibility someone might seriously consider Vin Diesel a potential 007.
The risk is more that they could cast someone who is a cliche rather than someone controversial imho.
If it's someone more famous which i think it should i'd go with Fassbender he would be 43 and he could do 3 movies no problem. i don't see anyone who can be Craig's successor except these 3 names.
And again, that's 1960, not 63. OHMSS was published on 1st April 1963, that's 7 months before Fleming finally saw Connery in the movie FRWL that would change his opinion of the actor. You're making the assumption that Fleming gave Bond a Scottish background only because of the movie casting of Dr No, conveniently forgetting that Fleming was himself of Scottish heritage, and mostly based his character on himself as a fantasy. Fleming also went to Eton, hence why his character also attended the same college. Fleming had recently got married at an older age for the first time, hence why his own creation would do the same in a later story.
Are you therefore suggesting that if Richard Burton had originally been cast as 007 for Dr No then Fleming would have made him Welsh just to please a small minority of cinemagoers at the time that he had no idea how they'd react to either actor in the role? Considering Fleming actually sat down at his typewriter in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby and wrote OHMSS -- how would he have known if Connery would be popular or not? Why would Fleming have made Bond partly Scottish without having seen a single frame of footage from Dr No and, at the same time, despising the central casting of Connery as his character? Answer is: he didn't. He based it on himself, not Connery.
@ToTheRight my take on casting American actors for British roles (not only Bond) is simple: their accent is at best shoddy so why take the risk? Especially since like you said for some reason they cast a flavour of the month. It seems like since Dick van Dyke when some producers cast an American to play a Brit they think it's going to be different this time. It never is.
Indeed. American actors performing with an accent often calls attention to itself. Keanu in the Coppola Dracula being a prime example. It's not the character, it's Keanu doing his interpretation of a British accent. One of many reasons why I really wouldn't want an American actor as Bond.
That said I do believe popular flavors of the month get franchise roles, and with EON out of the picture we'd have a better chance of a Bond along the lines of Val Kilmer's Simon Templar. Only for the 2020's. I certainly appreciate the members here who have more faith in the Hollywood system for casting, but my cynicism tends to outweigh optimism.
This is one of (if not the best) brand IP in the business. Hollywood will treat it with kid gloves or bring the best creative minds (read Nolan) to the table to reimagine it should it be sold off.
I wonder why so many people think Nolan would be great to the franchise. I adore what he did with Batman but that doesn't mean he'd do something that good with Bond or be nearly as inspired.
@ToTheRight Keanu Reeves is Canadian but his casting in that pseudo Dracula playing a pseudo Victorian Englishman is symptomatic of Hollywood's "vision" when it comes to cast iconic English characters: go for the flavor of the month or a big star. It dates back from at least Dick van Dyke and I wonder why people think it would be any different now.
It's also a matter of fact that Fleming quickly reconciled himself to Connery's casting and began praising the actor, as shown in The Man With the Golden Typewriter, Lycett's biography, etc. The idea that Fleming despised Connery's casting is untrue beyond a brief period of discomfort.
And as you say, "Fleming actually sat down at his typewriter in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, Dr. No, was being filmed nearby." He was involved with the production and suggested screenwriters, locations, and actors and he visited the set on multiple occasions, met the stars, etc. Dr. No was very much on his mind when he wrote OHMSS--need I remind you that he even gave Ursula Andress a cameo in the book?
No, but you seem to forget that before OHMSS Fleming consistently referred to Bond as English. If he was so keen on giving his character his own background, why didn't he do so in the nine previous books? Instead he made Bond English. Only after Connery was cast did Bond suddenly become Scottish. Fleming might have been previously flirting with giving Bond some Scottish ancestry, but it was Connery's casting that prompted him to stress Bond's Scottishness.
Possibly. What would be the harm of it? If the Burton film was a success, then it would tied the properties together, if it was a failure, Bond at least would have a new and interesting background detail. But since Connery was Scottish, Fleming could tie the character both to himself and the actor--a win-win. I think the decision to make Bond Scottish was based on both Connery's and Fleming's backgrounds--both are intertwined.
I wonder why so many people think Nolan would be great to the franchise. I adore what he did with Batman but that doesn't mean he'd do something that good with Bond or be nearly as inspired.
@ToTheRight Keanu Reeves is Canadian but his casting in that pseudo Dracula playing a pseudo Victorian Englishman is symptomatic of Hollywood's "vision" when it comes to cast iconic English characters: go for the flavor of the month.
Regarding Americans, the reason I don't object to them outright is because I've been around long enough to know that anything is possible. If a short blond actor can be a decent Bond then the sky's the limit on what can happen. One has to keep an open mind, that's all.
Broccoli is American, as is Wilson and most of the MGM/Sony execs who approved Craig. If there is a handover of the business to another studio post-B25, the new caretakers may be just as careful in ensuring we have a decent Bond #007. In fact, I'm fairly confident they will be.
That's right. I forgot Keanu is from Canada. Still, a big name back in 1992 thanks to Bill and Ted and Point Break to get him cast as Harker. One of the more infamous accents of the time. I certainly would hope if EON does sell after B25 the new owners steer away from current hot commodities and carefully cast 007.
Yes, this is true. I've even always liked him for some reason, but I've never thought of him to be a great actor.
On the other hand, being good at accents is just one part of acting, and it's also possible to be a good actor without being good at accents (and surely to be good at accents, but not at acting - ultimately they're different skill sets).
In any case, I don't see any valid reason to disqualify actors from the role just because where they're from. Obviously they'd need to be able to do the accent, but that doesn't necessarily depend on the person's background.
Totally agree here. I'm not a Keanu hater, but his acting skills honestly are mediocre. Still, The Matrix and Speed are two films I really enjoy.
Yet he got cast in a Coppola movie. A rubbish one and he was awful in it but still...
I think whether it's possible or not that an American actor can play a Brit convincingly is neither here nor there. It's whether it's plausible and probable. Given an historical track record of dreadful, dreadful, dreadful castings, my take is: don't take the risk.
I wonder why so few from North America can do accents though.
I don't know how much theatrical training actually helps with learning specific accents later on, but maybe actors get taught some trickery there that might be useful somehow. (I really have no idea.) I've wondered to what extent formal training in acting is helpful and makes aspects of acting work easier in general.
As for the differences in American and British (and other, such as Irish or Australian) variants of English, there are still all those differences within them, so the whole issue is complex and tricky to evaluate.
Do Brits not do terrible American accents? If it's an American production, maybe they wouldn't get the job in the first place and they'd find Americans for the roles, but Americans doing bad British accents would still get jobs in American productions... Something like that... Just an additional idea.