Who should/could be a Bond actor?

Denbigh

DarthDimi wrote: »

Univex wrote: »

After 2006 and the dark cloud that loomed over Daniel, even though it threw him to work non stop in CR, I’d say it could be possible they wanted to test the waters, specially to prevent the actor from suffering like Craig, again, even though he nonchalantly says he didn’t.

And not to extend the off-topic matter, but I do agree with you, @DarthDimi. Connery said he knew and understood Quartermain because he's a big literary character, even bigger than any character Tolkien had created. Alan Quartermain is the main character in King Solomon's Mines, a 19th century novel by Sir H. Rider Haggard, and Alão Quartelmar, in the (internationally recognised as being better) Portuguese adaptation of the novel, written 6 years later by the bigger writer Eça de Queirós, who is considered one of the best writers of all time, much, much bigger than Tolkien in the literary community, trust me. It is a golden literary character put in a rather so and so Alan Moore comic and later in the awful film by Stephen Norrington. THIS is why I'm so adamant on protecting literary intelectual property and being the most faithful one can be to its origins. THIS is why I've been raging on and on about keeping Bond close to his literary depiction, even to his physical traits. Because, if not, it all gets diluted and impoverished over time.

Anyway, coming back to the our topic, yes I think they have people for that, feeling the proverbial waters on the internet. I have on good authority that they read the forums from time to time. Yes, it's true. They have people read the forums, three forums to be exact. Nowadays, probably just one or two, seeing the third party has been a bit dormant.

Interesting. Do they read this forum by any chance? ;-)

If Taylor-Johnson gets cast I want my agency cut ;)

SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷

For real? They do read this forum? Ok, it explains why we get nervous when we see a post that's not to our liking, so EON don't get any ideas from it as they read :)

Pierce2Daniel

I recently watched Aftersun and was so impressed with Paul Mescal. That film is perfectly served by Mescal’s signature brand of softboi gentleness. I went and watched him in Normal People after (which is a bit of a slog and not worth the hype) and he was probably even better. He is so subtle and emotional. He has this really masculine bruised energy. There is something of a young Brando to him. He could do something actually new with Bond (opposed to ATJ who just seems to be 'more of the same'). Mescal has this quality which he could show us Bond maturing into a more hardened, troubled masculine figure. He just got the lead role in Gladiator 2 and has a string of A24 films on the way. Surely that would put on BB's radar? He would be a really really interesting choice for Bond......

bondywondy

HarmonyRockets wrote: »

bondywondy wrote: »

If Aaron Taylor-Johnson does get the part he'll join Craig as someone that noone ever mentioned on online forums nor on any website list of candidates.

I don't recall Craig getting mentioned in 2004 - 2005 and ATJ was never mentioned* in 2019 - 2021.

*Someone will probably say "just to correct you... in 2020 i said Aaron Taylor-Johnson should be Bond."
;))
Okay, almost no-one. 😉

Do a search for "Aaron Taylor-Johnson" on this site and you'll get 22 pages of results, going back to 2014. He's been mentioned quite a few times over the years. Each page has 20 results, so that's 440 mentions in the past 9 years.

Okay. I'm surprised but your data convinces me.

I haven't scanned over 1000 pages of this thread (!) and I am a casual visitor to this forum, don't visit it every week, but I genuinely never got any impression he was a candidate/someone that fans were excited about.

And I certainly don't recall the tabloid press and entertainment websites mentioning him on any lists. I literally cannot recall one list mentioning Johnson. Gillian Anderson (from X Files etc) was mentioned as a possible Bond 😄 but not Johnson. I even saw Dwayne Johnson (no relation!) mentioned but not Aaron Taylor-Johnson mentioned. Proof

https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/25/dwayne-johnson-could-see-himself-as-first-american-to-play-james-bond-17636655/#:~:text=Dwayne Johnson is eyeing up,years playing the iconic character.

He got more attention than ATJ and we all know Dwayne Johnson will never be Bond. I don't recall any buzz about ATJ at all. Nothing.

HarmonyRockets

bondywondy wrote: »

HarmonyRockets wrote: »

bondywondy wrote: »

If Aaron Taylor-Johnson does get the part he'll join Craig as someone that noone ever mentioned on online forums nor on any website list of candidates.

I don't recall Craig getting mentioned in 2004 - 2005 and ATJ was never mentioned* in 2019 - 2021.

*Someone will probably say "just to correct you... in 2020 i said Aaron Taylor-Johnson should be Bond."
;))
Okay, almost no-one. 😉

Do a search for "Aaron Taylor-Johnson" on this site and you'll get 22 pages of results, going back to 2014. He's been mentioned quite a few times over the years. Each page has 20 results, so that's 440 mentions in the past 9 years.

Okay. I'm surprised but your data convinces me.

I haven't scanned over 1000 pages of this thread (!) and I am a casual visitor to this forum, don't visit it every week, but I genuinely never got any impression he was a candidate/someone that fans were excited about.

And I certainly don't recall the tabloid press and entertainment websites mentioning him on any lists. I literally cannot recall one list mentioning Johnson. Gillian Anderson (from X Files etc) was mentioned as a possible Bond 😄 but not Johnson. I even saw Dwayne Johnson (no relation!) mentioned but not Aaron Taylor-Johnson mentioned. Proof

https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/25/dwayne-johnson-could-see-himself-as-first-american-to-play-james-bond-17636655/#:~:text=Dwayne Johnson is eyeing up,years playing the iconic character.

He got more attention than ATJ and we all know Dwayne Johnson will never be Bond. I don't recall any buzz about ATJ at all. Nothing.

To be fair, almost every list had people like Elba, Hardy, etc. So not really realistic candidates. There might have been a few lists that had him, but they're hard to find now since everything that comes up for him are the recent rumors.

Ludovico

I'm sure it's been asked before, but apart from ATJ, do we know of anyone else talking to EON? Or anyone rumoured to?

Denbigh

I'm not sure about other names but I do think the confirmation of ATJ's meeting kinda kills some of the Lucien Laviscount rumour doesn't it? Considering didn't that specific rumour mention something about EON wanting to have an ethnic-minority play the role?

That's not to say they're not considering other actors of different ethnicities within the UK but I think the Lucien rumour made it seem like they're specifically wanting that and only that.

mtm

I'd be very surprised if they're limiting their search in that way; I would imagine they'd be pretty open to all possibilities.

Denbigh

mtm wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if they're limiting their search in that way; I would imagine they'd be pretty open to all possibilities.

100%

Ludovico

Denbigh wrote: »

I'm not sure about other names but I do think the confirmation of ATJ's meeting kinda kills some of the Lucien Laviscount rumour doesn't it? Considering didn't that specific rumour mention something about EON wanting to have an ethnic-minority play the role?

That's not to say they're not considering other actors of different ethnicities within the UK but I think the Lucien rumour made it seem like they're specifically wanting that and only that.

I think if they'd met an ethnic minority actor and he'd made a positive impression we would know about him by now. I suspect if ATJ is not Bond then it is unlikely Bond is going to be among the other candidates they have already seen, because first impression and all that. But I'm just speculating.

DarthDimi

Ludovico wrote: »

Denbigh wrote: »

I'm not sure about other names but I do think the confirmation of ATJ's meeting kinda kills some of the Lucien Laviscount rumour doesn't it? Considering didn't that specific rumour mention something about EON wanting to have an ethnic-minority play the role?

That's not to say they're not considering other actors of different ethnicities within the UK but I think the Lucien rumour made it seem like they're specifically wanting that and only that.

I think if they'd met an ethnic minority actor and he'd made a positive impression we would know about him by now. I suspect if ATJ is not Bond then it is unlikely Bond is going to be among the other candidates they have already seen, because first impression and all that. But I'm just speculating.

Aren't we all? ;-) In the end, we know very little. I recall that in 2005 Craig had rarely been mentioned at all before his announcement. But perhaps this time it's different. It's a pretty unpredictable process, I guess.

Jordo007

Pierce2Daniel wrote: »

I recently watched Aftersun and was so impressed with Paul Mescal. That film is perfectly served by Mescal’s signature brand of softboi gentleness. I went and watched him in Normal People after (which is a bit of a slog and not worth the hype) and he was probably even better. He is so subtle and emotional. He has this really masculine bruised energy. There is something of a young Brando to him. He could do something actually new with Bond (opposed to ATJ who just seems to be 'more of the same'). Mescal has this quality which he could show us Bond maturing into a more hardened, troubled masculine figure. He just got the lead role in Gladiator 2 and has a string of A24 films on the way. Surely that would put on BB's radar? He would be a really really interesting choice for Bond......

I'm not sold on Mescal to be honest. If he's signed on for a big film like Gladiator 2, maybe that rules him out, as he'll be busy with that?

Ludovico

DarthDimi wrote: »

Ludovico wrote: »

Denbigh wrote: »

I'm not sure about other names but I do think the confirmation of ATJ's meeting kinda kills some of the Lucien Laviscount rumour doesn't it? Considering didn't that specific rumour mention something about EON wanting to have an ethnic-minority play the role?

That's not to say they're not considering other actors of different ethnicities within the UK but I think the Lucien rumour made it seem like they're specifically wanting that and only that.

I think if they'd met an ethnic minority actor and he'd made a positive impression we would know about him by now. I suspect if ATJ is not Bond then it is unlikely Bond is going to be among the other candidates they have already seen, because first impression and all that. But I'm just speculating.

Aren't we all? ;-) In the end, we know very little. I recall that in 2005 Craig had rarely been mentioned at all before his announcement. But perhaps this time it's different. It's a pretty unpredictable process, I guess.

I do remember though that back in 2005 all of a sudden the name Daniel Craig was everywhere, but people dismissed it as wild rumour. Apparently Clive Owen, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor and Robbie Williams were far more plausible candidates.

JeremyBondon

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I do like Mescal, though not sure for Bond... Really looking forward to Gladiator II though.

DarthDimi

JeremyBondon wrote: »

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I thought so too, but while reading the article, I found a few things of interest:

• Rory Kinnear, who played M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in four of the five Daniel Craig 007 movies, believes Taylor-Johnson won’t bag the role of a lifetime simply because he’s the frontrunner.
  
• "I always feel slightly bad for the people who are being highlighted because that never tends to be them. They are very good at keeping the real person secret. I’d be interested to see who does take over, obviously, but it tends not to be the frontrunner, that’s historically [how it has been]."

Since this is only the second time we'll have a big announcement in the Internet age (and the first in the era of big leaks and whatnot), and "only" the seventh big announcement in over 60 years, I don't think we really can rely on patterns very much. I'm not saying he's wrong. I just don't think ATJ can be ruled out just yet because of the (interesting but not waterproof) points Kinnear made here.

Ludovico

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

DarthDimi

Ludovico wrote: »

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

Excellent point, @Ludovico! I hadn't even picked that up.

I must admit that I'm not hot on ATJ yet, but I have sort of warmed up to the idea.

Ludovico

DarthDimi wrote: »

Ludovico wrote: »

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

Excellent point, @Ludovico! I hadn't even picked that up.

I must admit that I'm not hot on ATJ yet, but I have sort of warmed up to the idea.

I'm not hot on him either, but I'm not hostile to him.

Another point: if Kinnear knew anything about who is being considered (which I don't think he does), he wouldn't be able to speak publicly about it. He can't say: "Sure, ATJ is being considered now" or "Nah,,most likely it won't happen!". So he's talking very carefully.

Last point: the frontrunner in the public eye and in EON's eye are two very different things. Back in 2005, who was the frontrunner? Clive Owen, Gerard Butler?

Denbigh

My initial instincts were that he was more than a frontrunner.

Not necessarily because of the rumours of EON meeting with him in some capacity being true, but thinking that for the information to get out, and be confirmed, he must've made quite the impression or quite a big decision was made given how beyond Sony script leaks, EON is quite tight on this stuff usually.

But obviously now given everything we've discussed, it seems not to be the case, even if he could still get the part. He just doesn't have it now and hasn't even auditioned properly as far as we know.

mtm

DarthDimi wrote: »

JeremyBondon wrote: »

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I thought so too, but while reading the article, I found a few things of interest:

• Rory Kinnear, who played M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in four of the five Daniel Craig 007 movies, believes Taylor-Johnson won’t bag the role of a lifetime simply because he’s the frontrunner.
  
• "I always feel slightly bad for the people who are being highlighted because that never tends to be them. They are very good at keeping the real person secret. I’d be interested to see who does take over, obviously, but it tends not to be the frontrunner, that’s historically [how it has been]."

Since this is only the second time we'll have a big announcement in the Internet age (and the first in the era of big leaks and whatnot), and "only" the seventh big announcement in over 60 years, I don't think we really can rely on patterns very much. I'm not saying he's wrong. I just don't think ATJ can be ruled out just yet because of the (interesting but not waterproof) points Kinnear made here.

Yeah it's not really anything that there's ever much of a trend on. Because the 007 before Craig was Pierce Brosnan, and he certainly was the frontrunner when he was cast, to the point of it barely being much news when he finally was.

Ludovico wrote: »

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

To be fair to him he was on The One Show which is live, and had to say something which seemed vaguely interesting. I don't blame him conjuring up the first thing which came to his head. I doubt that ATJ's chances are any better or worse for being the current frontrunner. Not very solid at all.

Ludovico

mtm wrote: »

DarthDimi wrote: »

JeremyBondon wrote: »

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I thought so too, but while reading the article, I found a few things of interest:

• Rory Kinnear, who played M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in four of the five Daniel Craig 007 movies, believes Taylor-Johnson won’t bag the role of a lifetime simply because he’s the frontrunner.
  
• "I always feel slightly bad for the people who are being highlighted because that never tends to be them. They are very good at keeping the real person secret. I’d be interested to see who does take over, obviously, but it tends not to be the frontrunner, that’s historically [how it has been]."

Since this is only the second time we'll have a big announcement in the Internet age (and the first in the era of big leaks and whatnot), and "only" the seventh big announcement in over 60 years, I don't think we really can rely on patterns very much. I'm not saying he's wrong. I just don't think ATJ can be ruled out just yet because of the (interesting but not waterproof) points Kinnear made here.

Yeah it's not really anything that there's ever much of a trend on. Because the 007 before Craig was Pierce Brosnan, and he certainly was the frontrunner when he was cast, to the point of it barely being much news when he finally was.

Ludovico wrote: »

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

To be fair to him he was on The One Show which is live, and had to say something which seemed vaguely interesting. I don't blame him conjuring up the first thing which came to his head. I doubt that ATJ's chances are any better or worse for being the current frontrunner. Not very solid at all.

Yeah, Kinnear was vague and careful in his remark.

007InAction

Ludovico wrote: »

mtm wrote: »

DarthDimi wrote: »

JeremyBondon wrote: »

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I thought so too, but while reading the article, I found a few things of interest:

• Rory Kinnear, who played M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in four of the five Daniel Craig 007 movies, believes Taylor-Johnson won’t bag the role of a lifetime simply because he’s the frontrunner.
  
• "I always feel slightly bad for the people who are being highlighted because that never tends to be them. They are very good at keeping the real person secret. I’d be interested to see who does take over, obviously, but it tends not to be the frontrunner, that’s historically [how it has been]."

Since this is only the second time we'll have a big announcement in the Internet age (and the first in the era of big leaks and whatnot), and "only" the seventh big announcement in over 60 years, I don't think we really can rely on patterns very much. I'm not saying he's wrong. I just don't think ATJ can be ruled out just yet because of the (interesting but not waterproof) points Kinnear made here.

Yeah it's not really anything that there's ever much of a trend on. Because the 007 before Craig was Pierce Brosnan, and he certainly was the frontrunner when he was cast, to the point of it barely being much news when he finally was.

Ludovico wrote: »

I'd also like to add that Kimnear does not say ATJ will not be Bond. He expressed himself in vague and generic terms. And is ATJ even the frontrunner at this point? Is there even a frontrunner at the moment?

To be fair to him he was on The One Show which is live, and had to say something which seemed vaguely interesting. I don't blame him conjuring up the first thing which came to his head. I doubt that ATJ's chances are any better or worse for being the current frontrunner. Not very solid at all.

Yeah, Kinnear was vague and careful in his remark.

Kinnear's godfather was Michael Williams, the husband of Judi Dench

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the new frontrunner for Bond 26's 007, and the Kick-Ass star has one quality that the next James Bond needs to bring back.
https://screenrant.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-james-bond-comedy-experience-important-why/

SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷

If truly, ATJ is Barbara's choice, I wonder how she feels about the early news.

mtm

Pretty sanguine I would imagine; it's not as if he hasn't been mooted as a potential one for a few years and they're always dealing with the press talking. Better than no publicity after all!

SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷

mtm wrote: »

Pretty sanguine I would imagine; it's not as if he hasn't been mooted as a potential one for a few years and they're always dealing with the press talking. Better than no publicity after all!

Yeah. I can see that point.

jetsetwilly

JeremyBondon wrote: »

Sorry lads, these points seem solid:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1718258/Next-James-Bond-Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-Rory-Kinnear

I do like Mescal, though not sure for Bond... Really looking forward to Gladiator II though.

What are you sorry for? There is nothing in that article which makes this conclusive either way.

I doubt Rory Kinnear will know who the next candidate is for Bond. He's only an actor, not Bab's closest ally. And secondly, even if the rumours were true that ATJ is the next Bond, do you expect Rory to blurt this out if he knew? He would have no choice but to dispel any rumours until an announcement is made by EON.

If he did anything else, I doubt he'd be allowed near the set of a Bond film ever again.

mtm

Through no fault of his own he's unlikely to be on one again anyway, and he was never actually working for EON when a Bond was cast so has no inside experience of the process anyway, so his observations are, as you point out, largely meaningless and certainly don't seem 'solid'.

talos7

mtm wrote: »

Through no fault of his own he's unlikely to be on one again anyway, and he was never actually working for EON when a Bond was cast so has no inside experience of the process anyway, so his observations are, as you point out, largely meaningless and certainly don't seem 'solid'.

The office and building staff at EON are the real insiders . Why don’t we have people everywhere? We need a mole. 🤔

Benny

talos7 wrote: »

mtm wrote: »

Through no fault of his own he's unlikely to be on one again anyway, and he was never actually working for EON when a Bond was cast so has no inside experience of the process anyway, so his observations are, as you point out, largely meaningless and certainly don't seem 'solid'.

The office and building staff at EON are the real insiders . Why don’t we have people everywhere? We need a mole. 🤔

I thought we had one, or two. ;)

Jordo007

I must admit I wouldn't be surprised if Bond #7 will be somewhat of a departure from the traditional Bonds we've known over the years.

I wish I was more adaptable with Bond, but I resented the Gardner novels when he promoted Bond to Captain Bond. It was a minor plot point, but it felt wrong him not being Commander Bond