Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    bondjames wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    BUT, after watching Molly's Game over the weekend I consider Jessica Chastain to be a great candidate for Bond's leading lady in the next film.
    +1. I've been championing Chastain ever since I first saw her in a hardly watched spy thriller entitled The Debt. Recommended, if you've not seen it. She was great in Molly's Game (the ski jump reminded me of FYEO), as was Elba. You should check out Miss Sloane too (she gives a performance on par with Molly's Game in that one).

    Forget it. I can't imagine Chastain wanting to settle for a Bond Girl role.
    I'd suppose it would depend on the role. She's played supporting characters before.

    But this is Bond, and she is a feminist. I'm not saying 'no' to the suggestion, much the opposite, I just couldn't see her wanting to be a Bond Girl.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    bondjames wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    BUT, after watching Molly's Game over the weekend I consider Jessica Chastain to be a great candidate for Bond's leading lady in the next film.
    +1. I've been championing Chastain ever since I first saw her in a hardly watched spy thriller entitled The Debt. Recommended, if you've not seen it. She was great in Molly's Game (the ski jump reminded me of FYEO), as was Elba. You should check out Miss Sloane too (she gives a performance on par with Molly's Game in that one).

    Forget it. I can't imagine Chastain wanting to settle for a Bond Girl role.
    I'd suppose it would depend on the role. She's played supporting characters before.

    But this is Bond, and she is a feminist. I'm not saying 'no' to the suggestion, much the opposite, I just couldn't see her wanting to be a Bond Girl.
    Fair enough. I wasn't aware of her attitudes. Then yes, I would imagine that she wouldn't want to be tainted with a Bond film association. They'll just have to stick with French or Italian actresses then because they don't seem to mind, and neither do I.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Yes, Jessica Chastain wouldn't appear in a Bond film. Major was on point.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Or as bond
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Or as bond
    She'd probably be tempted to suggest appearing as Bond.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    Chris Hemsworth has really moved up my list as a possible 007. For a traditional Bond he’s got it all. The last photo on this page really says Bond too me, without being in the obligatory tux.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5272599/Chris-Hemsworth-bears-resemblance-Brad-Pitt.html
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Isn’t he an Aussie, didn’t learn the first time?
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    edited January 2018 Posts: 8,195
    Isn’t he an Aussie, didn’t learn the first time?

    That’s a broad statement. Learn what? Lazenby gave a fine performance, especially considering his in experience. Many here feel he would have grown nicely in the role. I would have liked to have seen what he would have done in DAF.
    Hemsworth has all the physical attributes, he has matured greatly as an actor, showing considerable charm in the latest Thor. Most of all he is what an actor needs to play Bond, an alpha male.
    So , didn’t I learn the first time? Sure, Aussies have great screen presence, never rule them out ;)

  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    talos7 wrote: »
    Isn’t he an Aussie, didn’t learn the first time?

    That’s a broad statement. Learn what? Lazenby gave a fine performance, especially considering his in experience. Many here feel he would have grown nicely in the role. I would have liked to have seen what he would have done in DAF.
    Hemsworth has all the physical attributes, he has matured greatly as an actor, showing considerable charm in the latest Thor. Most of all he is what an actor needs to play Bond, an alpha male.
    So , didn’t I learn the first time? Sure, Aussies have great screen presence, never rule them out ;)

    Well this is all subjective but Lazenby couldn’t act properly, he was wooden. He also wasn’t very handsome, I found him to be an odd looking man. Hemsworth is too big of a man to be bond, he’s more like a henchman. Also bond should be british
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    Indeed, subjective, you’re right about that.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Hemsworth is a pretty big guy (6ft 3 or thereabouts). I agree that he showed a decent light side in the latest Thor film. The entire tone of that recent effort is right up my alley.

    So I know he can do light hearted fare. What I have yet to see is if he can do dramatic scenes as well, without overacting or appearing affected. In that regard his work on Thor films to date hasn't impressed. So I will view the upcoming 12 Strong with some interest.

    I would imagine that Babs will want an actor with some range to replace Craig.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    He’s more monster than man though, not suave more like a brute
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    A colleague of mine told me today that they are going with a black actor as James Bond in the next film.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    edited January 2018 Posts: 8,195
    Lol! :D
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    A colleague of mine told me today that they are going with a black actor as James Bond in the next film.

    Which lunatic asylum did you find them in?
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    He had read it.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    He had read it.

    Then it must be true!
  • Posts: 2,915
    I do find it interesting that I've read a lot more in depth posts on here from @Revelator about the original novels than many of the members pulling the Fleming wrote Bond as a white man card.

    Thank you for the very kind words! And thank you for your eminently sensible posts in this thread.
    The debate on racial casting seems to have hit the point of diminishing returns, so I'll summarize my points one last before moving on.
    I love Fleming but recognize that the films have to occasionally depart from or expand on their source material and need to keep up with changinging times and audiences (as that Den of Geek article makes clear). The series has sometimes strayed wildly from Fleming and into mindless excess and self-parody (MR, DAD, etc) but it usually circles back to Fleming's core version of the character.
    Speaking as a pragmatic Fleming fan, I have no regard with supposed Fleming purists who are okay with the films straying from Fleming but suddenly decide Fleming's hypothetical (and never stated) opinion on a Bond actor's race must be respected. Since Fleming himself changed Bond's nationality after Connery was cast and beforehand was considering an American for the role, we know that he was flexible about Bond's background and the actor playing him. In 1962 a Bond actor would have to be white, since Britain itself was predominantly white. 2017 is a much different era and Britishness no longer means whiteness. And while must Bond remain British, male, and heterosexual onscreen because those his identity would change drastically if he wasn't, being non-white does not mean non-British. Anyone who thinks otherwise should go back to 1962. What a 109 year old Fleming would think today is of course impossible to state with certainty. But I think everyone agrees that he intended Bond as a British hero, and in 2017 a non-white actor as Bond would not violate that intention one bit.
    @Revelator You still haven't given any good reason why he should change colour. Please, before you continue to try and devalue the arguments against, come up with a good reason why you should.

    Why? This thread is called who "could/should" play a Bond actor. There is no reason why Bond should be played by a non-white actor and there is no reason why he shouldn't, despite some of the flimsy logic given those uncomfortable with the idea of a non-white actor as Bond. If a British actor looks like he projects the right mix of suaveness, toughness, authority, and charm, then he deserves to be considered regardless of his race because he could play the role. That's all there is to it.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    The officer class of the British military is becoming more white-dominated despite repeated calls from senior figures to boost the numbers of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) recruits. The numbers of non-white officers has fallen by 16 per cent since 2009, official data shows, down from 750 to 630 now.

    Even taking into account the overall drop in the size of the armed forces in recent years, the figures still represent an eight per cent fall in black and minority ethnic officers in the space of six years.

    The proportion of officers in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force who are from BAME backgrounds is now just 2.3 per cent – down from 2.5 per cent in 2009.

    It is understood there was not a single BAME candidate among Royal Marine officers passing out last year – while just 20 black and 25 Asian officers serve in the Royal Navy, out of a total of around 7,000. Of the army’s 13,000 officers, only 100 are Asian and 60 are black. And of the RAF’s 8,000 officers, 45 are Asian and 30 black. Around 45 per cent of BAME officers are mixed race.

    Bond is an Commander who will have served in the 1990's. Statistics say that the likelihood of him being Black is very low.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2018 Posts: 23,883
    Just leaving aside the discussion about whether Bond could theoretically be black, or even whether he should be black, does anyone have some plausible candidates that they can put out there? I'd be curious to see what we think of the prospects. After all, we take apart and lambast the white candidates on this site. Let's have a go at some of the minority options. I'm afraid Sope Dirisu, who was mentioned earlier, doesn't quite do it for me for some reason.

    EDIT: and if cursory and superficial scrutiny of prospects offends some, then that's definitely a reason why this shouldn't happen yet. After all, being this character means taking the hits (many times unfairly) as well as the plaudits.
    Sope-Dirisu-Cassius-Clay-in-One-Night-in-Miami...jpg
    Sope_Dirisu.png
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited January 2018 Posts: 5,131
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited January 2018 Posts: 5,131
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.

    Wow. Must have been more of an action film and less of a comedy prior to Murphy's involvement, because Stallone is awful in Comedies (Stop or My Mum Will Shoot).

    "Sylvester Stallone was originally considered for the part of Foley Stallone gave the script a dramatic rewrite and made it into a straight action film. In one of the previous drafts written for Stallone, the character of Billy Rosewood was called "Siddons" and was killed off half-way through the script during one of the action scenes. Stallone had renamed the lead character to Axel Cobretti, with the character of Michael Tandino being his brother and Jenny Summers playing his love interest. Stallone has said that his script for Beverly Hills Cop would have "looked like the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan on the beaches of Normandy. Believe it or not, the finale was me in a stolen Lamborghini playing chicken with an oncoming freight train being driven by the ultra-slimy bad guy." However, Stallone's ideas were deemed "too expensive" for Paramount to produce and Stallone ultimately pulled out two weeks before filming was to start. Two days later, the film's producers, Simpson and Bruckheimer, convinced Eddie Murphy to replace Stallone in the film, prompting more rewrites".................So basically a completely different fim.

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2018 Posts: 23,883
    suavejmf wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.

    Wow. Must have been more of an action film and less of a comedy prior to Murphy's involvement, because Stallone is awful in Comedies (Stop or My Mum Will Shoot).
    You are correct. I believe that's why he was ultimately rejected. He wanted a more action oriented film and the studio objected. I believe he took ideas from his original screenplay and incorporated them into Cobra, which was far less successful.

    EDIT: Just saw your updates to the post above.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.

    Wow. Must have been more of an action film and less of a comedy prior to Murphy's involvement, because Stallone is awful in Comedies (Stop or My Mum Will Shoot).
    You are correct. I believe that's why he was ultimately rejected. He wanted a more action oriented film and the studio objected. I believe he took ideas from his original screenplay and incorporated them into Cobra, which was far less successful.

    I see.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.

    Right, and this is why it applies regardless of race. How would it go over now if a re-boot of BHC was done and Axel was made a non-black character?

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    talos7 wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I'm afraid not, as I've never thought about it. I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night and again didn't once think how Axel would work as a white man either.
    Ironically, I believe Stallone was the first choice for that part.

    Right, and this is why it applies regardless of race. How would it go over now if a re-boot of BHC was done and Axel was made a non-black character?
    I would imagine we may see protests on the street! Lol.
  • Posts: 15,106
    BHC is an example of a change of race that improves on the original idea. And it was done early on in the creative process. What would warrant such change in the Bond franchise?
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    Nothing.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited January 2018 Posts: 13,978
    talos7 wrote: »
    Nothing.

    Well, it would silence a group of people, some of which don't even like Bond, but want the change just to upset the fans that don't want it to happen. And trust me, there are people like that out there, i've had the misfortune of encountering them.

    Bond is white, always has been, always should be. Don't like it? Then there are a number of other action/thriller series out there.
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