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I'm surprised I'm not the only one who likes Van Nutter.
I'm 50/50 on whether Leiter should return for the next one. Obviously it'd be soon after Wright's Leiter died. Then again, I suspect the majority of audiences wouldn't care, especially given the gap between NTTD and Bond 26. It'll likely be very consciously rebooting the series too so it'd work. I'd personally like to see a Leiter a little older than our next Bond (so late 30s to early 40s) and I'd love to see a version of the character with a prosthetic leg and hand who is 'on loan' to the CIA for specific jobs.
I suspect as well that even if the next Leiter has only a little bit of screen time, they'll play a more important role than just showing up and being Bond's sidekick. I feel the likes of Terry suffered from this, and the character was somewhat shoehorned into that film when he didn't make much difference to the plot.
Just kidding. Michael Pate was fine, but I wonder what people thought of his accent. Did it sound British?
McConaughey would have been on the young side for GoldenEye at 26, but he’s always kind of had a ruggedly youthful look that reads 30s/40s. Just as he looks younger than his age today, he also looked older than his age in his 20s. Look at him in Contact in 1997. He definitely could have been Brosnan’s Leiter.
I too am a big fan of Van Nutter. He’s my third favorite after Casey and Hedison. Sure, he doesn’t have a lot to do in the film, but that really is his only drawback. He both looks and acts just like how I imagine Fleming’s Leiter (albeit with silver hair instead of sandy blonde): tall, lanky, athletic, sort of youthful looking but also not, straight-shooting with casual, off-the-cuff remarks.
Next I’d go with Norman Burton. Doesn’t remotely resemble Fleming’s Leiter physically, but he has a good rapport with Connery in Diamonds as @ToTheRight mentions and the attitude is there.
Cec Linder is all right in Goldfinger. He pals about with Bond at least.
John Terry sits or stands in front of the camera as the script would have him and delivers all of his lines in a more or less human cadence in The Living Daylights.
Jack Lord was rather too serious for my taste—like he thought he was starring in some 40s noir.
Not a fan of Wright’s interpretation either. He’s dour and grumbly and just a hair less serious than Lord. May as well have made him some other character IMO.
Whoever they cast next, I hope they bring a bit more of the spirit of Fleming’s Leiter to the role.
Yeah I think the suggestion of James Garner is a lovely one, but a possible problem is that he was almost too charismatic and you'd want it to be a buddy movie with the two of them! Or y'know: The Persuaders :D
Yes I think with Felix I'm not sure if I'm bothered if he's in it. If they have a great idea for him then fine, but equally I don't miss him in the movies he doesn't appear. I don't really know what he's like.
A block of wood? C'mon, just look at the range in expression he exhibits:
"I wonder if Annie’s making liver and onions again."
"God, I hope it’s not liver and onions again."
"I’m going to be sick if it’s liver and onions again."
:))
But seriously, I have to defend Rik Van Nutter's performance a bit. It's not great, but I like him in the movie. He's cool in his own way. And he looks more like my idea of Leiter than Cec Linder or Norman Burton (I still like Cec, and love Norman because he's hilarious).
I have prepared this chart to demonstrate Rik's acting range.
Did you know he was an acting teacher? Steven Seagal was among his students.
I have absolutely no memory of this actor playing Felix in any Bond film. Not a good sign :))
There are probably so many Felixes because he's an excellent spy and has extensive plastic surgery between each mission to stay one step ahead of the opposition.
Every morning Bond wakes up and thinks to himself "I wonder what Felix is going to f***ing look like today".
We need a Felix origin story. Starting with his upbringing in Milwaukee his recruitment into the CIA. Ending with him tasked to meet Bond in Jamaica.
An Amazon Prime original
I wouldn't put it past them!
No, just no! [-X
Yeah I was gonna suggest Cedar Leiter. As another wooden possibility.
To be fair Rik Van Nutter could emote with the best of them when the situation warranted. She has a lovely mouth, that Anita.
Amused? Confused? Aroused?
Mischievous. ;)
Anita may have looked happy in these photos, but we all know who wore the trousers-no shorts-no trousers-no shorts in that household.