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Casting:size, age, height, etc
I was wondering about this for a while: when people here suggest someone for a role be it Bond, the Bond girls, the villain, they think of certain physical attributes, among other things, that would fit the role. This is the case obviously for every role in fiction: one would not expect a skinny Falstaff. But I was wondering, when do you draw the lines in the Bond universe? At what age is it too old to play Bond? What height should he be, at the minimum? How young/olf should be the Bond girls? And what about the actor playing the villains? I personally prefer the villain to look like a seasoned badguy, one that looks credible as a man of experience and resources, but not to the point of being geriatric. But what's your opinions on the matter?
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I suppose Karl Stromberg was a geriatric Bond villain in his own way...and he certainly fitted the "dirty old man" bill when he creepily molested a bound-up Anya.
I am a dirty old man, why so bigoted towards us?
You're not old! I mean OAP - Old and Putrid! Just like Stromberg!
F. Murray Abraham has not played in a good film for a while though. I could see a geriatric General Grubozaboischikov though, but in general I prefer having mature but not too old villains (late 40s/early 50s).
hahaha, no, most people mistake me for thirty, but I am dirty.
True, not even sure if he is working anymore, but loved him in The Name of the Rose and other films too. He can play the kind of guy you love to hate. Would love to see him as a villain in a Bond film.
Bond - not over 56
Must be attractive (I know that is subjective) but not necessarily tall with dark hair and blue eyes
Main Bond Girl/Woman - not over 56, not younger than 21; ideally 25 to 45 or so ... Must be attractive (but no "set" limit on height, weight, proportions, etc.) but MUST have some degree of intelligence showing through the performance (no more airheads or bimbos!)
Main Villain - no age limit; not younger than 18
I think a villain in his twenties would be too youthfu.
How so? Would it be deemed racist if I said a black american actor had to play Shaft. Answer NO. So why is it in the reverse? Have you read the Fleming books or seen Live and Let Die?
Come now Mr Thunderfinger - surely you realise that you cannot joke about such a serious thing as a black Bond.
In summary there are two camps:
1. The pro black Bond lobby (which when you boil it down further is the pro Idris Elba Bond lobby).
2. Racists.
So be careful @suavejmf when you casually toss out there the notion that Bond should be white.
Anyway to actually answer the question:
Bond
Age: should not be below 35 when cast that gives a tenure of 5 films at 3 year intervals up to 50 with the proviso of one more based on how youthful they look.
Height: Not below 5'10 and not above 6'2. This is fairly un-negotiable as we cant have a short arse like Tom Cruise nor can we have a lanky stick insect like Stephen Merchant.
Size: Not sure what you mean by this? I would say anywhere between 6 and 10 inches would be fine. Oh you mean could he be a porker? Of course not. I think Sean's gut in DAF and Brozza's in the DAD hotel are as far as we want to go down that road.
Sorry I cant live with a 56 year old Bond girl. Call me ageist, sexist whatever. They just got in in time with Monica Bellucci but it helps that she was spectacularly fit in the first place and I'm sure they will be doing a pretty heavy makeup job on her. The Bond girl should not be over the hill or even approaching the crest of it. She should be in her prime somewhere between early 20's to late 30's.
Although come to think of it Nigella is still pretty damn hot at 55 so I guess there are exceptions.
HOWEVER I do think they need to cast a guy who is in the 6'1" - 6'2" range, simply because it allows for more flexible framing on camera.
There have been almost no medium-wide shots of Craig when surrounded by his co-stars (Judi Dench excepted, for obvious reasons), and I find that it does get a bit tiresome constantly needing all these closeups of him when he is next to / opposite his fellow actors.
It's no secret that Dan isn't the tallest fella', and it does make it impossible to use certain wide shots.
Also, DC's shoelifts started to look a bit daft in SF if you ask me...
A little confused by this? For example, Axel Foley is a detective conceived as a black Detroit Cop. Just as Bond is a white british secret agent as conceived by Fleming and later in film.
You wouldn't cast Ryan Reynolds as Axel Foley in a sequel. So what is the issue with saying you wouldn't cast a black actor as Bond???
It's not rascism at all, simply fact. In film some characters are black and some are white.