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Yeah, have him for a Trigger Mortis adaptation.
I'll give you my take on this query. I don't believe Broccoli and Saltzman did allow Connery to stay Scottish, as you put it. If you rewatch Dr No, FRWL, GF, it's pretty clear that Connery is trying to speak in an affected English uppercrust voice. Sure, some of his Scottish burr seeps through every now and then, but his regional brogue is dialed right back as far as he feels comfortable taking it. Also, Connery did take elocution lessons to improve his diction before the role of Bond. Besides, most Americans wouldn't be able to understand a regional Scottish accent unless it was first modified by the actor themselves. The same applies to actors from the North of England, such as the Geordie accent from the Tyneside area. Some fans even had a similar complaint about Dalton's Welsh accent occasionally seeping through, such as when he said "nassty" instead of the southern English pronunciation of narsty.
It's also worth noting that one of Roger Moore's own regrets was totally losing his own regional accent as it hadn't done either Michael Caine or Sean Connery any harm.
I haven't seen much of Doherty, but from what little I have seen he does tick a lot of my own boxes. At least he's 6 ft tall and has a deeper voice than ATJ. He could be the one. 8->
I don't think that's specifically what they're looking for either. I was probably being a bit flippant phrasing it like that. I just think they'll be looking for someone consciously different to Craig, and if an actor perhaps approaches the role in a way that's deemed too similar to him they'll be less likely to get the role. Don't think it'll be Chamalet though!
So Peter, in the history of the franchise have they never tested actors , in between films, when there was no locked in script? It seems particularly likely in the Connery and Moore years, particularly when they were playing hardball for more money,
I should have emphasized-- contemporary producers in today's film industry, auditioning the lead to a storied franchise, without a scrip, is insanity.
I was actually going to edit my post, knowing that yesteryear would be called to attention.
So, I will eat my hat if any auditions, for the new James Bond, have taken place without a script. I can't believe that EON would greenlight this ass backwards approach.
Nor MGM.
Nor Amazon.
A meeting?
A dinner?
Certainly, especially as this Kick Ass actor's wife is a director and an acquaintance to Ms. Broccoli.
But an audition? Without a script? If I'm wrong, pass the ketchup and I'll get chewing.
Haven’t seen him in anything yet but IMO he has the look 100%. It doesn’t hurt that he looks so similar to Connery. Looking forward to watching something of his.
Great, thank you, good post. I think you're quite right about Connery smoothing his accent towards the border.
One qualification though: Dalton doesn't have a Welsh accent- he's got remnants of a Derbyshire accent as that's where he comes from; despite the myth he's not Welsh.
EDIT: Maybe I misinterpreted the end of your post.
EON don't need a finished script for a screen-test as they can use previously written scenes taken from earlier Bond movies. From memory, all the actors have to perform the Tatiana Romanova bedroom scene from FRWL and the Teresa di Vicenzo bedroom scene from OHMSS. There's possibly a few more scenes I've forgotten about. I think once they've narrowed it down to the final three actors, they'll call them back to perform some scenes taken from the working script or draft of Bond 26.
Of all the Bond actors, only Moore was famous when taking the role, imo. Brosnan was mostly known as the guy who could or should have been Bond. Generally they go for relatively unknown veteran actors. Of course in our day and age, with social media and Google, even the most obscure candidate could already be more famous than Brosnan or Dalton when cast.
I think Peter means a script for the film: you can't really cast a main character, even James Bond, unless you have a film for him to be in. Last time they had Casino Royale, a script and a director, and they knew where they wanted to take Bond, which is why Craig was cast and what he was cast to do.
You wouldn't have cast Christian Bale to be in a Joel Schumacher Batman film.
@bondsum :
Auditions cost money. Quite a bit of it, actually. For recalls, union actors actually get paid to return, but, on top of this:
Auditions need their own schedules and budgets that include the time of the casting director (and payment), the hiring of set people, camera operators and a director and the hiring of actors to play against (as well as their payments).
There will be scheduled auditions and they will be shot as close to all at once as possible (before going to final candidates).
They will not need a finished script (I didn’t say that), nor will they when they start auditioning— but they WILL have an early draft of the new script with the proper tone and direction of the new film, to see if actors can pull off what the producers are looking for (as well as performing FRWL to see how the men do with the romance).
Make no mistake, the auditions will be scheduled and financed and they WILL be studying scenes from the new script (not a finished/polished script; that happens when they lock the new actor), and the first round of auditions will shoot as close to each other as the schedule will allow.
No one will green light such an important process without a script/direction in place.
This isn’t like 1982 where they wanted to see if Brolin could throw a punch.
The series isn’t the sausage factory it was in Cubby’s latter days (and I say that as a fan of his sausages). These are at least US$200 million dollar investments competing in a crowded market, for a billion dollars in worldwide box office. There’s far too much at stake— especially now having to fill the shoes left by Craig.
No direction, no script, no auditions.
EDIT: @mtm nailed it (but I didn’t see it until after I posted, 😂)
But I suppose they might do screen tests for actors before a final script is in place?
Oh yeah, bearing in mind how much scripts can change, I don't think that's impossible at all.
I could be completely wrong, but when MGW said they’d be talking to P&W, I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt him. I’m not saying they will be the sole writers, but we can’t be surprised if they at least do the first few outlines for Eon (on commission), if not some of the early drafts (before co-writers and script doctors climb on board).
I do believe wheels are certainly moving, but perhaps not at the pace of having auditions quite yet.
It didn't seem to stop his spiritual father Sean Connery! ;) But yeah, if his acting chops are sufficient he'd be my #1 realistic choice (true #1 is still Luke Evans).
But the auditioning process is a complex part of film making, and you don't want to take the wrong step out of the gate. There's a schedule, a small crew, actors and a director to round up and a thorough process to manage. It's an exciting time, and my fingers are crossed that it'll be here soon enough (late spring? Early summer? Just guesses and based on zero info).
Welcome back. Your posts have been missed.
P
Is it also possible considering how closely Barbara and Michael worked with Craig that they'd like to repeat that close relationship and want to set that dynamic from the off as opposed to how it built with Craig?