The greatly improved standard of acting in the Bond series

PalkoPalko

In the "Who would play a returning Blofeld" thread, @Ludovico suggests that Simon Russell Beale could play the part of Blofeld. I don't disagree, and I'm not creating this thread to continue that discussion, but rather to talk about how greatly the level of acting has improved in the series, to a point where his suggestion certainly bears merit.

I would say that in Skyfall alone we have a cast with a greater level of stage and screen accolades under their belts than in the rest of the series put together:

Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, Ben Whishaw (both of whom have won awards for their Hamlet), Javier Bardem, Albert Finney...

If the rumours about Chiwetel Ejiofor joining the cast for the next one are to be believed, surely we can expect this marvellous trend to continue?

To think how far we've come from the nadir of a wasted Christopher Walken in AVTAK, to the almost repertory company feel of Skyfall.

Well done to the producers and casting director Debbie McWilliams, but Craig and Mendes must also take credit.

Perilagu_Khan

In general, I would agree. But to put a finer point on matters, I think the area in which the improvement has been most significant is the Bond girls. In the fairly distant past, it seems Bond girls were cast almost entirely for their looks and with absolutely no regard for their acting chops. That's not to say that many of the old Bond girls were not excellent, but rather that the clunkers have become increasingly rare. Halle Berry and Denise Richards are the obvious exception to the rule, but I think, in general, the Bond actresses have steadily gotten better and better.

RC7

Perilagu_Khan wrote:

In general, I would agree. But to put a finer point on matters, I think the area in which the improvement has been most significant is the Bond girls. In the fairly distant past, it seems Bond girls were cast almost entirely for their looks and with absolutely no regard for their acting chops. That's not to say that many of the old Bond girls were not excellent, but rather that the clunkers have become increasingly rare. Halle Berry and Denise Richards are the obvious exception to the rule, but I think, in general, the Bond actresses have steadily gotten better and better.

This is also what sprung to mind when reading the OP. I would agree. I'd also say that I believe there to be some inspired performances across the series. I don't think it is merely a modern phenomenon. Many tremendous actors have featured and delivered top level work. I think it's very easy to define a stage/theatre background as a hallmark of quality, and while those you state are indeed great actors, I think the Bond series has seen some immense performances from top quality 'screen' actors. I don't necessarily pinpoint SF as a film where there is one stand out performance, in the way I might with Shaw in FRWL, it is more of an ensemble peice.

Matt_Helm

PalkoPalko wrote:

In the "Who would play a returning Blofeld" thread, @Ludovico suggests that Simon Russell Beale could play the part of Blofeld. I don't disagree, and I'm not creating this thread to continue that discussion, but rather to talk about how greatly the level of acting has improved in the series, to a point where his suggestion certainly bears merit.

I would say that in Skyfall alone we have a cast with a greater level of stage and screen accolades under their belts than in the rest of the series put together:

Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, Ben Whishaw (both of whom have won awards for their Hamlet), Javier Bardem, Albert Finney...

If the rumours about Chiwetel Ejiofor joining the cast for the next one are to be believed, surely we can expect this marvellous trend to continue?

To think how far we've come from the nadir of a wasted Christopher Walken in AVTAK, to the almost repertory company feel of Skyfall.

Well done to the producers and casting director Debbie McWilliams, but Craig and Mendes must also take credit.

I would still rather see them put the money in a (at least half)decent script and the movie itself. This "fake" use of places and countries used to be the hallmark of Bonds cheap wanna be competition (just as ridiculously senseless and cringeworthy scripts), but these were the good old days probably. The Bond series has been doing quite fine for decades without premium payed prominent stardirectors- and actors.

PalkoPalko

Perilagu_Khan wrote:

In general, I would agree. But to put a finer point on matters, I think the area in which the improvement has been most significant is the Bond girls.

I entirely agree, Eva Green was brave to accept the role of Vesper, and she has brought a standard back to the Bond girl that disappeared some time after Diana Rigg.

I also think Naomi Harris is a fine addition to the returning cast. She obviously has great chemistry with Craig.

007InVT

Ralph Fiennes brings it up several notches. I hope he gets a good crack at M for a while.

Anyone know if Jeffrey Wright coming back as Feelixshhh?

Perilagu_Khan

PalkoPalko wrote:

Perilagu_Khan wrote:

In general, I would agree. But to put a finer point on matters, I think the area in which the improvement has been most significant is the Bond girls.

I entirely agree, Eva Green was brave to accept the role of Vesper, and she has brought a standard back to the Bond girl that disappeared some time after Diana Rigg.

I also think Naomi Harris is a fine addition to the returning cast. She obviously has great chemistry with Craig.

Thus far, all three of the DC-era Bond girl leads have been superb. Eva Green, Olga Kurylenko, and my personal favorite Berenice Marlohe, have not only delivered marvelous performances, but have brought an exoticism, mysteriousness and glamour of which Ian Fleming would have wholeheartedly approved. To my mind, this is the best three-in-a-row of Bond girls ever. Only D'abo, Lowell and Scorupco come close, and that trio is marred somewhat by Soto's presence.

DarthDimi

I tend to disagree about Olga Kurylenko, @Perilagu_Khan. I consider neither the character of Camille nor Olga's acting of the same level as Vesper and Eva's acting in CR. Camille has a disappointing story arc, if any at all. I spot a few character traits but hardly any character development. She's pretty uninteresting. And Olga does little to set the room on fire. That said, of course I can't blame her for the poor script job on her character.

MayDayDiVicenzo

DarthDimi wrote:

I tend to disagree about Olga Kurylenko, @Perilagu_Khan. I consider neither the character of Camille nor Olga's acting of the same level as Vesper and Eva's acting in CR. Camille has a disappointing story arc, if any at all. I spot a few character traits but hardly any character development. She's pretty uninteresting. And Olga does little to set the room on fire. That said, of course I can't blame her for the poor script job on her character.

I see what you did there! :-)

Perilagu_Khan

DarthDimi wrote:

I tend to disagree about Olga Kurylenko, @Perilagu_Khan. I consider neither the character of Camille nor Olga's acting of the same level as Vesper and Eva's acting in CR. Camille has a disappointing story arc, if any at all. I spot a few character traits but hardly any character development. She's pretty uninteresting. And Olga does little to set the room on fire. That said, of course I can't blame her for the poor script job on her character.

Well, me old mucker, we certainly see things differently regarding Olga/Camille. I'm not a huge QOS booster, but I consider Camille a real strength of the film. She's certainly different, though. Camille is the only Bond girl who is enveloped in a pall throughout, but that's one of the things I like about her. And I consider the character to be one of the most well fleshed out of the entire series.

Perilagu_Khan

MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:

DarthDimi wrote:

I tend to disagree about Olga Kurylenko, @Perilagu_Khan. I consider neither the character of Camille nor Olga's acting of the same level as Vesper and Eva's acting in CR. Camille has a disappointing story arc, if any at all. I spot a few character traits but hardly any character development. She's pretty uninteresting. And Olga does little to set the room on fire. That said, of course I can't blame her for the poor script job on her character.

I see what you did there! :-)

Heh.

Ludovico

Wow, I didn't know I'd inspire a thread! I do think when it comes to Bond girls, acting ability immensely improved with the Craig era and to a lesser extend with the Dalton and Brosnan era. But we also had a few shining moments in the past (Diana Rigg). And the early Bond movies had incredible acting talents. Robert Shaw may be the most accomplished artist, not merely actor, who ever played in the series.

I don't know if Beale will ever play in a Bond movie, I have no clear evidence he will, but with him playing Lear directed by Mendes, I wouldn't be surprised.

Perilagu_Khan

Ludovico wrote:

Wow, I didn't know I'd inspire a thread! I do think when it comes to Bond girls, acting ability immensely improved with the Craig era and to a lesser extend with the Dalton and Brosnan era. But we also had a few shining moments in the past (Diana Rigg). And the early Bond movies had incredible acting talents. Robert Shaw may be the most accomplished artist, not merely actor, who ever played in the series.

I don't know if Beale will ever play in a Bond movie, I have no clear evidence he will, but with him playing Lear directed by Mendes, I wouldn't be surprised.

Of the pre-Rigg Bond girls, I believe Bianchi is the best. She often gets overlooked, IMO.

timmer

I think the best actor in the entire series, the guy that carried six films almost on his back (even with some other pretty good actors in his films) was Sean Connery - IMO one of the greatest screen actors of all time.
Along with Charlton Heston, I can't imagine two actors with such screen heft and presence. I can watch any of their films over and over again. I can't say that for any other actor, other than prime-era Clint Eastwood.
So in this light, I can't say with much enthusiasm that the acting has improved, as I believe it peaked early.
That said, the ensemble casts we have seen in recent films have been pretty impressive, even going back to TWINE, with Marceau, Carlyle and Coltrane tossed together.
The Craig films have all featured very excellent ensemble casts.
Olga is one of my favourite Bond girls. She's exotic in a Fleming way. Same with Marlohe. Green did nothing for me as Vesper though, as I can't relate her very well to the book character. Murino as Solange was quite Fleming exotic though.
When I say Fleming exotic, Ian's pages I think introduced many of us white-bread NA types to exotic Euro and global locales, and the sultry femmes that populate such habitats.

M_Balje

Funny, i think sotimes about replacing Debbie McWilliams like Lindy Hemming after CR. Since Hemming is gone the costume design inprove. I whant to see there casting more older Bond girls and more people outside of France/Europe.

Eva Green whas very disapointed, there did not enough with Vesper and i not like her behaviour promotion the movie and same count for Daniel Craig. With Skyfall i get the idea Daniel Craig falls back a litle bit to his CR mode when he promotion the movie. Luky enough Eva Green whas not there, mabey this also have runed the movie again. Because i don't have complanes about Daniel Craig as Bond in Skyfall, whyle i think with QOS he be as his best and i think it have to do with the work he get.

Ralph Fienes as Malory suprise me a lot, his casting worried me the moost before we know he going to be the new M. I think he is cast because of his knowlegde of the subject he deal already with Harry Potter/the fame of this he left, but stil a bit unfames and mabey whant English actor.

4EverBonded

In general, I agree the acting has gotten better and better. Especially with Bond girls. I politely disagree with those who do not like Eva Green - she was so excellent in every way, for me, as Vesper. She really raised the standard again of being a Bond girl. By all means, I want Bond girls/women (however you want to word it) to be good actresses, not just pretty. I liked Olga in QOS, too, although they downplayed her looks in that film; I thought her acting was fine, though. And I love Naomie as Eve Moneypenny. I think her chemistry with Craig sparkles, and she is a good actress. So yes, let's get a great script for Bond 24 and get it cast right. Skyfall had an all around outstanding cast.

Ludovico

The time of ditzy Bond girls seem to be thankfully over.

actonsteve

The jump between dad and cr was incredible. The newcomers eva, olga and bernice are imcredible

I believe the brosnan era was the nadir. The eighties was the highlight with maud, carole, maryam and carey. The brosnan era was a step backwards

Watching d'abo yesterday showed what a good job she did

BAIN123

Brosnan had Isabella who I think did a very good job as Natalya (perhaps Yeoh aswell). I believed her in the role. Other than that his era was filled with fairly sub-par actors.

Actually a good "acting" scene that stands out for me is the one in the cell from TWINE between Dench and Carlyle.

actonsteve

I just dont rate them apart from sophie marceau who is incredible

But mendes got a good performance with berenice

BAIN123

I'm mixed on Marceau. I liked her but she could be a little too...theatrical at the times".

"M, could you come...I can't help thinking...I'm next"

actonsteve

Umm...yes

She was written erratically. Blame michael apteds wife.

BAIN123

She does shoouuulder some of the blame ;)

Getafix

Matt_Helm wrote:

PalkoPalko wrote:

In the "Who would play a returning Blofeld" thread, @Ludovico suggests that Simon Russell Beale could play the part of Blofeld. I don't disagree, and I'm not creating this thread to continue that discussion, but rather to talk about how greatly the level of acting has improved in the series, to a point where his suggestion certainly bears merit.

I would say that in Skyfall alone we have a cast with a greater level of stage and screen accolades under their belts than in the rest of the series put together:

Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, Ben Whishaw (both of whom have won awards for their Hamlet), Javier Bardem, Albert Finney...

If the rumours about Chiwetel Ejiofor joining the cast for the next one are to be believed, surely we can expect this marvellous trend to continue?

To think how far we've come from the nadir of a wasted Christopher Walken in AVTAK, to the almost repertory company feel of Skyfall.

Well done to the producers and casting director Debbie McWilliams, but Craig and Mendes must also take credit.

I would still rather see them put the money in a (at least half)decent script and the movie itself. This "fake" use of places and countries used to be the hallmark of Bonds cheap wanna be competition (just as ridiculously senseless and cringeworthy scripts), but these were the good old days probably. The Bond series has been doing quite fine for decades without premium payed prominent stardirectors- and actors.

I agree - I am really much more concerned about the quality of the plot and script than having another 'lovey' on the title credits.

I also think the Bond movies of yore are littered with amazing performances, and the ones I personally have enjoyed the most are all from the first 25 years or so of the series. The DC era has certainly restored a bit of credibility in terms of the acting, but I don't think cramming the films with classically trained thesps is necessarily a guarantee of quality. Connery's performance still (for me) surpasses anything by the other 5 Bond actors, so on that point alone I can't really agree with the title thread. I think there have been some very good recent performances - particularly in CR, where I thought Vesper, Mathis, Felix and LeChiffre were all brilliantly cast and gave excellent performances. DC I personally see as a solid Bond, but don't feel he offers quite the Connery-challenging performance that some make out. I still prefer Rog and Tim. And I'd argue Laz gives Craig a run for his money in certain respects - certainly in terms of physicality and arguably in having delivered the most emotionally powerful scene in the entire series.

I think that from 1995-2002 the series hit such a low ebb in terms of quality that the relative improvement since then is therefore even more noticeable. But that doesn't mean the acting now is necessarily better than in the pre Brosnan era.

timmer

Further to @getafix above, I think the acting in the early days was perfectly fine. Eon cast a lot of "foreign" (foreign to NA) actors who carried the ball quite well. I think most of the casting in the classic era was darn near perfect.
Sean IMO carried these movies anyway, but I've got no quibbles with any of his varied supporting cast members such as Auger, Bianchi, Honor Blackman, Wiseman, Lotte Lenye, Ursula Andress, Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz, Adolfo Celi, Gabrielle Ferzetti, Karin Dor, Paluzzi, Diana Rigg, Shirely Eaton the Japanese actors/actresses in YOLT and on and on.
The original 6 pack of films were exceptionally well made and cast IMO. Iconic films, all of them.

Ludovico

I think the early ones were greatly cast, but at some point casting became sometimes more questionable. Both the Dalton and Brosnan era were hit and miss. When it comes to Bond girls especially, but also to villains, the Craig era has a borderline flawless casting.

Getafix

Ludovico wrote:

I think the early ones were greatly cast, but at some point casting became sometimes more questionable. Both the Dalton and Brosnan era were hit and miss. When it comes to Bond girls especially, but also to villains, the Craig era has a borderline flawless casting.

Vesper was excellent. Marlohe was pretty good during her brief appearance. The QoS girls I was not so keen on - not bad, but not flawless casting IMO. Fields in particular I find really annoying.

Sandy

Ludovico wrote:

I think the early ones were greatly cast, but at some point casting became sometimes more questionable. Both the Dalton and Brosnan era were hit and miss. When it comes to Bond girls especially, but also to villains, the Craig era has a borderline flawless casting.

I completely agree, the acting in all 3 of Craig's outings has been spotless and I hope it continues this way.

Ludovico

I think Gemma Aterton played really well the role she was playing. She was meant to be a small time spy, little more than a glorified secretary.

Getafix

Ludovico wrote:

I think Gemma Aterton played really well the role she was playing. She was meant to be a small time spy, little more than a glorified secretary.

She was flouncing around like a pouting stripogram. What was that trenchcoat and no skirt about? Not how a junior MI6 admin person dresses in the field, I suspect.

Admitedly that's not all Arteron's fault - more of a wardrobe malfunction.

Sandy

Getafix wrote:

Ludovico wrote:

I think Gemma Aterton played really well the role she was playing. She was meant to be a small time spy, little more than a glorified secretary.

She was flouncing around like a pouting stripogram. What was that trenchcoat and no skirt about? Not how a junior MI6 admin person dresses in the field, I suspect.

Admitedly that's not all Arteron's fault - more of a wardrobe malfunction.

Who told you she had no skirt /:)