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'They don't 'arf pick 'em '...bad actor choices in 007's world

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  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    I think Wiseman voiced Number One as Blofeld in Thunderball, not that he actually was in the chair of the movie. I haven't seen this Bond film for ages so can't tell you who was credited as Blofeld for that release, it wasn't a ' ? ' as with Russia though I'm adamant
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    At work now, will check when i get home.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    If I may, seems like most of the poor performances go to actresses and not so much to actors. Gert Frobe was a well established thespian in German cinema and Adolfo Celi had made a name for himself in Italian and Brazilian pictures.

    Many of the male actors took care of business but the actresses is where the casting and talent falls short.
  • Agent005Agent005
    Posts: 562
    It was Anthony Dawson in both. The fact that we never get to see Blofeld and only hear his voice (as dubbed by Eric Pohlmann) is what made Blofeld great for me.
  • actonsteveactonsteve
    Posts: 1,492
    Getafix wrote:
    How can you dislike Pleasance's Blofeld? No one comes near it in terms of a definitive performance. Kojak was a relative lightweight compared to Don.

    i agree with you. Without the look and voice of Pleasance you wouldnt have the iconic look of Blofeld for later films.

    I always thought he worked well. I cant believe someone upthread suggested Michael Lonsdale. He is one of the joys of MR.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    I suppose a lot of people think of Pleasance as being too campy and without him we wouldn't have Dr Evil. Not me though.
  • Agent005Agent005
    Posts: 562
    I think both Pleasance and Lonsdale were horribly miscast. Compared to their counterparts of the novels, both actor and character fell flat in the films. They had so much beautiful source material to pull inspiration from and failed. Huge missed opportunites in both cases.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited January 2012 Posts: 11,189
    I've never been a huge fan of MR the film but Michael Lonsdale was a lot of fun and certainly one of its stronger points.

    "Look after Mr Bond...seee that some harm comes to him"

    In terms of "bad actor" choices Joe Don Baker comes to mind. He was great in GE but somewhat miscast in TLD.
    -Having re-watched TND yesterday Teri Hatcher also makes the list
    -Denise Richards is a given but at least she's funny and reasonably attractive to look at. The same goes for Brit Ekland.
    -Jonathan Pryce is a great actor and a reasonable choice for a brainy Bond villain, however he's somewhat misused/underused in TND. Nonetheless I do find him enjoyable ("tell him if he doesn't sign the bill lowering the cable rates, we'll release the video of him with a cheerleader in a Chicago motel room"..."and then after he signs the bill release the tape anyway").
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited January 2012 Posts: 15,723
    I read in the OHMSS issue of MI6 Magazine that the editor of YOLT, Peter Hunt, had to edit out all the footage of Pleasance walking from one spot to another spot, because his walking was just too campy... if you see YOLT again, you'll see that Pleasance doesn't walk anywhere, or if he moves, it happens off screen...

  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited January 2012 Posts: 11,189
    DaltonCraig007 wrote:
    I read in the OHMSS issue of MI6 Magazine that the editor of YOLT, Peter Hunt, had to edit out all the footage of Pleasance walking from one spot to another spot, because his walking was just too campy... if you see YOLT again, you'll see that Pleasance doesn't walk anywhere, or if he moves, it happens off screen...

    Never noticed that. It is well known that DP had the famous scar added as an afterthought as he wasn't the most menacing of figures.

    Slightly off topic I found out yesterday that a friend (a non Bond fan) who works at Heathrow Airport chatted to an "old geeza" called Lewis Gilbert :-w

    He was apparently talking about Sir Christopher Lee
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra. She was so bad that in Italy we were embarrassed to watch the scenes where she appeared.
  • barryt007barryt007
    Posts: 19,339
    My God..i created this thread 5 years ago,forgot all about it...i think re Bellucci,it was a nod to the fact that she should have got the Paris role in TND...Brosnan really championed her for that role..
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Walecs wrote: »
    Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra. She was so bad that in Italy we were embarrassed to watch the scenes where she appeared.

    Bellucci wasn't the problem; she herself was fine. The writing and directing is what sucked.
  • barryt007barryt007
    Posts: 19,339
    Agreed....she had the style required..im glad for her that she finally got her Bond girl status after being linked with so many films....
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,214
    I think you can't include those parts that are just badly written. For instance, Tanya Roberts had a good introduction scene and they could have continued her character arc in the same fashion, but they decided to make her a helpless scream queen.

    I don't think Roberts is to blame for the way her character was written.
  • barryt007barryt007
    Posts: 19,339
    If everyone looks back at my 1st post on here,back in 2011,its the actor himself/herself im referrring to ,not the lines,or the part they play...
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    OHMSS69 wrote: »
    Many of the male actors took care of business but the actresses is where the casting and talent falls short.

    Agree, in the Cubby era, they prioritised looks over talent. The book 'Some kind of hero' has some interesting info regarding casting choices.

    Eg Denise Richards gets a lot of flak but people even on this forum are obsessed with her looks and that's what sold tickets for the general public

  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    The greatest miscast in 007 history (if not in movie history) is Bardem. He single-handedly destroys every scene he is in with his ridiculous over-acting. The church sequence could have gone down in movie history but no, he has to overact the hell out of it and his pain face and dying scene is funnier than all Peter Sellers movies combined.
    The only other such miscast incident is probably awful Lexenberg in BvS.

    While I love to look at Denise Richards in TWINE, the movie suffers greatly because of her. She is just wrong. She doesn't destroy her scenes and she isn't overacting them, she simply doesn't act at all.

    Teri Hatcher, in the few scenes she has she manages to be just annoying and seeing her dead on the bed makes me cheer up every time. Good old Dr. Kaufmann made sure she wouldn't bother us any more than she already did in TND. Luckily TND doesn't suffer because of her, she is just a pesky little fly that is squashed at the right time.

    And that's already it.
    It seems as long as Cubby was around, all casting decisions were based on reason.
  • barryt007barryt007
    Posts: 19,339
    BondJasonBond006 wrote: »
    The greatest miscast in 007 history (if not in movie history) is Bardem. He single-handedly destroys every scene he is in with his ridiculous over-acting. The church sequence could have gone down in movie history but no, he has to overact the hell out of it and his pain face and dying scene is funnier than all Peter Sellers movies combined.
    The only other such miscast incident is probably awful Lexenberg in BvS.

    While I love to look at Denise Richards in TWINE, the movie suffers greatly because of her. She is just wrong. She doesn't destroy her scenes and she isn't overacting them, she simply doesn't act at all.

    Teri Hatcher, in the few scenes she has she manages to be just annoying and seeing her dead on the bed makes me cheer up every time. Good old Dr. Kaufmann made sure she wouldn't bother us any more than she already did in TND. Luckily TND doesn't suffer because of her, she is just a pesky little fly that is squashed at the right time.

    And that's already it.
    It seems as long as Cubby was around, all casting decisions were based on reason.

    hahaha perfect assessment BJB006.....just spot on.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    edited August 2016 Posts: 2,252
    BondJasonBond006 wrote: »
    And that's already it.
    It seems as long as Cubby was around, all casting decisions were based on reason.

    I don't believe so. Some leading lady choices in the Cubby era were based purely on looks and they deliberately overlooked actresses who could act (see 'Some Kind of Hero'). Possibly also proper actresses would demand more money as well

  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    Posts: 1,130
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    joseph wiseman played the unseen blofeld in thunderball. though from memory i think they just have a question mark next to blofeld on the end credits.

    just thought it may have been anthony dawson, obviously both actors were in DN.
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    joseph wiseman played the unseen blofeld in thunderball. though from memory i think they just have a question mark next to blofeld on the end credits.

    just thought it may have been anthony dawson, obviously both actors were in DN.


    Joseph was the Voice of Blofeld in Thunderball?
    How couldn't I recognize him ? Especially him making my favorite villain of the Sean Connery era as Dr No.
    I loved his take on Dr No, his dinner scene with Bond is one of the best meetings ever between the villain and Bond.

    Very polite but at the same time challenging Bond.


    But this thread is about the worst and for me the worst was Jane Seymour in Luve and let die.

  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,360
    Rory Kinnear as Tanner.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Murdock wrote: »
    Rory Kinnear as Tanner.


    =D>
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,345
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    Murdock wrote: »
    Rory Kinnear as Tanner.


    =D>

    Well I knew you'd agree with that one, Wiz! :D
  • octofingeroctofinger
    Posts: 787
    barryt007 wrote: »
    If everyone looks back at my 1st post on here,back in 2011,its the actor himself/herself im referrring to ,not the lines,or the part they play...

    That's an important distinction. I think Denise Richards is a great example here - terrible line delivery, yes. But everything about the film - the script, the blocking, the camera angles, the costumes - suggest that really her entire role is to be a pair of breasts on legs. Seriously.

    And on that front, I suppose she succeeds.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    edited August 2016 Posts: 4,043
    Rose tinted specs are regualrly worn when assessing the Cubby era, take my study of one character in particular below for evidence of that. It took the Craig era to get that right and strangely Brosnan has been nowhere near this character, although his surrogate wasn't exactly a highlight of the series.

    The problem is some mistake nostalgia for quality and as bad as some of the things about this current era there are moments in Connery's definitely Moore's and even Dalton's that are as terrible as what Brosnan and Craig have had.

    Bar of course ring scanning and step brother gate.

    Bardem as miscasting??? Just goes to show how some of us see completely different things while watching these films, anyway I digress.

    Johnathan Pryce definitely springs to mind, when he's on form he's a terrific actor see him in GOT for the most recent example of that but here he's bloody awful.

    Eliott Carver up there with the worst, that annoying way he exhales and the bit when he tries embarass Yeoh's character is risible.

    It's on a par with his awful efforts in Ronin and that Northern Irish accent is on a par with Brad Pitt's in The Devils Own.

    Waltz is undoubtedly for me one of the worst because it's the potential that is totally wasted, we aren't talking some villains lackey here we are Ernst "Bloody" Stavro Blofeld.

    He just seems not to care or that is way it comes across, Logan definitely gave Bardem more memorable dialogue to spout.

    Maybe Waltz realised how bad the script was and just thought I'll slum this one, "I'm used to QT level dialoge but not even I'm going to save this train wreck" Maybe they should have got Tarantino to write Oberhausers lines then maybe Christoph might have shown some enthusiasum for the part.

    Anyway onto my one character the series regularly miscast or just couldn't be arsed with it be it the writing or an actor totally unappropiate for the role, Felix Leiter

    Cec Linder & Norman Burton Truly awful Leiter's Bond lackeys, Linder is truly dull and doesn't strike you as being a CIA agent one bit and Burton is just comic relief and an embarassment.

    Hedison is OK in LALD better in LTK Though John "Just what the hell are you trying to do, 007? Start World War III" Terry takes some beating.

    Also Rick Van Nutter (see Cec Linder) even Jack Lord, looked great but was in no time treating Bond with awe.

    The only actor that has delivered as Leiter in making him a believable and credible is Jeffrey Wright

    It's just such a shame that Wright has been underused because he's only actor that you feel could be on the same level as Bond, he exudes an intelligence and a sly wit, also doesn't look at Bond with awe one bit.

    It seems he'll likely not return to the role, shame, hopefully when recast someone else will bring the same quality to the role.
  • patbpatb
    Posts: 4,617
    Spot on with the Ronin reference , such a great film, thankfully, he does not spoil it
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    I don't think Pricilla Barnes as Della was a great casting choice in the Dalton era.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited August 2016 Posts: 23,883
    Lynn Holly Johnson, Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, John Terry (Felix in TLD), Robert Carlyle (awful), John Seru, Goldie, Lawrence Makoare, Michael Madsen, Caroline Bliss, Gloria Hendry, Rick Yune, Maryam D'abo, Lana Wood (was she dubbed?) & Carey Lowell. Yuck to all of them.

    Most of the supporting cast in Florida in LTK as well. Just awful.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    bondjames wrote: »
    Lynn Holly Johnson, Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, John Terry (Felix in TLD), Robert Carlyle (awful), John Seru, Goldie, Lawrence Makoare, Michael Madsen, Caroline Bliss, Gloria Hendry, Rick Yune, Maryam D'abo, Lana Wood (was she dubbed?) & Carey Lowell. Yuck to all of them.

    Most of the supporting cast in Florida in LTK as well. Just awful.

    I've felt somewhat mixed on D'abo too lately. I know that she's a fan favourite but her performance does seem a tad overdone at times to me.

    She's still a much more convincing Bond girl than her immediate predecessor though.
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