Supporting roles that were miscast

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Comments

  • echo wrote: »
    John Cleese also comes to mind.

    He should have played it as an older Basil.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited December 3 Posts: 16,587
    Did he not? :D

    I actually wouldn't say he was miscast, I think he played what he was given well.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    Why did Brosnan not have a Felix?

    I think they didn't want to make a decision regarding a) ignoring the events of LTK or b) being stuck with a maimed Felix (even though that would have been somewhat in keeping with the books.) A fresh character (i.e. Wade) probably gave them a lot more freedom to just write a new guy and cast whoever they wanted. I bet it had more to do with comfort than with deeper considerations about the Bond - Felix partnership.
  • Posts: 1,438
    Why did Brosnan not have a Felix?

    Because LTK, I guess.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,366
    Why did Brosnan not have a Felix?

    Because LTK, I guess.

    This is the best argument that GE was not a reboot. They were still thinking about continuity.
  • Posts: 2,025
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about? Completely unsuited for the role or just did a bad job with it? Barbara Bach and Lois Chiles, not miscast, but overwhelmingly underwhelming. Expressively flat and lacking energy. Plenty of others, especially during the Moore years. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,165
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about?. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    Did any Bond girl from any actors era go on to have a successful career post Bond?

    Jane Seymour
    Michelle Yeoh
    Halle Berry
    Eva Green

    Probably the most success after their Bond experience.

    As for miscast actors. I know they’ve been mentioned before, but Cec Linder and Norman Burton were horribly miscast as Felix Leiter. It’s impossible to imagine either of these having experienced dangerous field work with or without Bond.

  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited December 4 Posts: 3,800
    Benny wrote: »
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about?. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    Did any Bond girl from any actors era go on to have a successful career post Bond?

    Jane Seymour
    Michelle Yeoh
    Halle Berry
    Eva Green

    Probably the most success after their Bond experience.

    As for miscast actors. I know they’ve been mentioned before, but Cec Linder and Norman Burton were horribly miscast as Felix Leiter. It’s impossible to imagine either of these having experienced dangerous field work with or without Bond.

    Diana Rigg too and Lea Seydoux.
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about? Completely unsuited for the role or just did a bad job with it? Barbara Bach and Lois Chiles, not miscast, but overwhelmingly underwhelming. Expressively flat and lacking energy. Plenty of others, especially during the Moore years. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    I'm on the same page when it comes to Barbara Bach (not just bad acting but also miscast, she's not believable as a Russian Agent), but @ToTheRight said that Bond Girls were also leads, not supporting ones.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,204
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about?. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    Did any Bond girl from any actors era go on to have a successful career post Bond?

    Jane Seymour
    Michelle Yeoh
    Halle Berry
    Eva Green

    Probably the most success after their Bond experience.

    As for miscast actors. I know they’ve been mentioned before, but Cec Linder and Norman Burton were horribly miscast as Felix Leiter. It’s impossible to imagine either of these having experienced dangerous field work with or without Bond.

    Diana Rigg too and Lea Seydoux.

    If one counts NSNA, Kim Basinger also belongs in that list.

    Also Sophie Marceau is a huge star in Europe, so I'd say she's definitely successful too.

    Oh and Rosamund Pike, of course.

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited December 4 Posts: 7,593
    Rory Kinnear; great actor and more of a writing issue, but I prefer a more literary/Kitchen interpretation of Tanner. Say what you will, I think there was more Tanner in "evil queen of numbers" than in Kinnear's entire run.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,342
    Rory Kinnear; great actor and more of a writing issue, but I prefer a more literary/Kitchen interpretation of Tanner. Say what you will, I think there was more Tanner in "evil queen of numbers" than in Kinnear's entire run.

    Michael Kitchen is definitely the definitive Bill Tanner. He made a very good impression in his two appearances. He's so far the only one to have played Tanner in a way close to the books. He's one of the better things about the Brosnan Bond films along with another recurring character, Valentin Zukovsky. It's a shame we didn't see more of him as Tanner.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,593
    In the books we get inside Bond's head and get a sense for how he really feels about M, his idiosyncracies (smoking a pipe, etc, little things), his missions, etc. We don't get that in the films, so Bond just shows his various disdains to M's face in a lot of scenes. This should be the function Tanner serves in the films. That way Bond can be straight faced and respectful towards M, but the audience can get in his head about what he really thinks a bit through Tanner.

    Zukovsky is a legend. One of my favourite things about the Brosnan era is the B players.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,250
    In the books we get inside Bond's head and get a sense for how he really feels about M, his idiosyncracies (smoking a pipe, etc, little things), his missions, etc. We don't get that in the films, so Bond just shows his various disdains to M's face in a lot of scenes. This should be the function Tanner serves in the films. That way Bond can be straight faced and respectful towards M, but the audience can get in his head about what he really thinks a bit through Tanner.

    Zukovsky is a legend. One of my favourite things about the Brosnan era is the B players.

    @NickTwentyTwo
    I absolutely agree about Zukovsky. I love his excited "BONDJAMESBOND!" in TWINE, followed by that disappointed look that says, "Oh, you are here for business."

    Regarding the B players, I have also always enjoyed Colin Salmon, Michael Kitchen, Samantha Bond and of course Judy Dench in their respective roles. That was some spot-on casting, right there!
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,204
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    In the books we get inside Bond's head and get a sense for how he really feels about M, his idiosyncracies (smoking a pipe, etc, little things), his missions, etc. We don't get that in the films, so Bond just shows his various disdains to M's face in a lot of scenes. This should be the function Tanner serves in the films. That way Bond can be straight faced and respectful towards M, but the audience can get in his head about what he really thinks a bit through Tanner.

    Zukovsky is a legend. One of my favourite things about the Brosnan era is the B players.

    @NickTwentyTwo
    I absolutely agree about Zukovsky. I love his excited "BONDJAMESBOND!" in TWINE, followed by that disappointed look that says, "Oh, you are here for business."

    Regarding the B players, I have also always enjoyed Colin Salmon, Michael Kitchen, Samantha Bond and of course Judy Dench in their respective roles. That was some spot-on casting, right there!

    Agreed, I always kind of wished Robinson and Bond could have teamed up in an action-oriented scene, or maybe a pts...
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,800
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about?. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    Did any Bond girl from any actors era go on to have a successful career post Bond?

    Jane Seymour
    Michelle Yeoh
    Halle Berry
    Eva Green

    Probably the most success after their Bond experience.

    As for miscast actors. I know they’ve been mentioned before, but Cec Linder and Norman Burton were horribly miscast as Felix Leiter. It’s impossible to imagine either of these having experienced dangerous field work with or without Bond.

    Diana Rigg too and Lea Seydoux.

    If one counts NSNA, Kim Basinger also belongs in that list.

    Also Sophie Marceau is a huge star in Europe, so I'd say she's definitely successful too.

    Oh and Rosamund Pike, of course.

    And also Olga Kurylenko, I'm seeing her quite a lot in different movies these days, she's now in the process of making a name for herself.
  • Posts: 28
    Benny wrote: »
    CrabKey wrote: »
    Miscast or bad acting? What are we really talking about?. Did any Bond girl from the Moore era go on to have a successful film career?

    Did any Bond girl from any actors era go on to have a successful career post Bond?

    Jane Seymour
    Michelle Yeoh
    Halle Berry
    Eva Green

    Probably the most success after their Bond experience.

    As for miscast actors. I know they’ve been mentioned before, but Cec Linder and Norman Burton were horribly miscast as Felix Leiter. It’s impossible to imagine either of these having experienced dangerous field work with or without Bond.

    I'll give a shout out to Carey Lowell as well- she was a DA on Law & Order for three seasons.
  • Posts: 1,650
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I've never been keen on Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver. I'm not sure if it's the actress or the writing but she's the first really duff character I can think of in the Bond films up to that point. Her rookie CIA agent act comes across as grating and I'd expect even a rookie agent to know more and anticipate more than her. She's no more credible as part of Kananga's criminal network either and is mercifully finally killed off by her own side due to her utter incompetence.

    As to who would've been better in the role I couldn't say. The character could easily have been excised altogether and it'd have been no loss to the film. The character didn't feature in the novel of course though plenty of other good henchmen did.

    Pam Grier for Rosie Carber ? although she'd have been tougher than Bond and much more interesting than Solitaire. Solitaire in the book is not white, of course. As for Grier playing Solitaire, no, because Solitaire was supposed to be young and inexperienced.
  • Posts: 1,650
    Felix Leiter was miscast in about half his appearances
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,077
    Since62 wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    I've never been keen on Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver. I'm not sure if it's the actress or the writing but she's the first really duff character I can think of in the Bond films up to that point. Her rookie CIA agent act comes across as grating and I'd expect even a rookie agent to know more and anticipate more than her. She's no more credible as part of Kananga's criminal network either and is mercifully finally killed off by her own side due to her utter incompetence.

    As to who would've been better in the role I couldn't say. The character could easily have been excised altogether and it'd have been no loss to the film. The character didn't feature in the novel of course though plenty of other good henchmen did.

    Pam Grier for Rosie Carber ? although she'd have been tougher than Bond and much more interesting than Solitaire. Solitaire in the book is not white, of course. As for Grier playing Solitaire, no, because Solitaire was supposed to be young and inexperienced.

    It's been a while since i read LALD, but i'm pretty certain Fleming describes her as being white. 'Blue-black hair and pale skin'
  • Posts: 1,650
    French Haitian...re-written as white when the film was made. Diana Ross was considered but the producers noted she would draw attention away from Bond, a concern for them with new Bond actor - third one in three films. They also were concerned with racist reactions - including not getting the film released - in a variety of countries.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    edited December 6 Posts: 4,077
    Since62 wrote: »
    French Haitian...re-written as white when the film was made. Diana Ross was considered but the producers noted she would draw attention away from Bond, a concern for them with new Bond actor - third one in three films. They also were concerned with racist reactions - including not getting the film released - in a variety of countries.

    Not quite accurate. It was Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz who originally wrote the character as black, even though Solitaire is a white person in the novel.
  • Posts: 1,650
    I am aware of the description by the script-writer. She is described as "pale" in the book. Perhaps Fleming was intentionally vague about this Haitian woman of French background ? Would he have described a white woman as "pale", or perhaps "fair-skinned", and a black woman as "pale" ? I've not broken out the book and looked throughout. I seems Fleming may have skirted the point.
  • Posts: 4,294
    Fleming describes Solitare as having the face of the daughter of a colonial slavemaster in the book. To be honest I interpreted that as her maybe being mixed race/a euphemism about the slavemaster having done something with a female slave. It’s more to highlight the idea that Mr. Big ‘owns’ her though, and she’s meant to be a white for all intents and purposes, but whatever works for readers I guess.
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