Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    I think I must have see Hoult standing with some exceptionally short people.
    Maybe He and Macquarie have signed for Bond 26. 😉
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    If Hoult was cast tomorrow, I'd give him a chance don't get me wrong, but right now I just don't see it. I'm sure they'd tailor Bond to his style and youthful appearance

    I suppose after having Craig as Bond for so long, it's tough to picture anyone else as Bond
  • Posts: 4,133
    Hoult is probably a bit too famous, but even that's only within the precedent of other Bond actors as opposed to something that will outright disqualify him.

    There's clearly something to him as an actor though. As others have noted he was in the running for Batman/Bruce Wayne, and I do get little flashes of Bond in that Armani ad. I don't think he'll be our man, but going from Mad Max: Fury Road he has the capability of playing a villain.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,369
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    I suppose after having Craig as Bond for so long, it's tough to picture anyone else as Bond

    Yes, I think that's the struggle the next guy is going to have. And it'll be worse than following Dalton or Brosnan too, because although they had their positives they were perhaps slightly identikit 007s, and Craig is probably generally held to be on the top tier next to Connery (I love you Roger, but you're probably just one step down from those two).
  • QsCatQsCat London
    edited December 2022 Posts: 253
    Venutius wrote: »
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    I just don't see Hoult as a contender for the role, he's a fine actor and seems like a nice fella but he looks too young and too nice. I can't describe it, he just doesn't look assured.
    Agreed. Bond doesn't have to be capable of battering Mr. Hinx, but he can't look like he'd be easy meat. He's got to deal with formidable characters like Le Chiffre and contend with fatales like Lucia Sciarra without being eaten alive. I'd struggle to buy it from Hoult - 'too young and nice'.

    Hm I don’t know. I don’t think Bond has to look too tough really, himself. It’s just that when he does fight it has to look convincing. That’s when it counts. These agents are trained to handle themselves, regardless of how their face looks or even how well-built they are. For example, in Spooks there are all sorts of different looking spies. Appearing unthreatening could work in favour of Hoult’s Bond.

    ‘I’d rather see a more mature Bond myself, at the top of his game. Then again, just because they are going young it doesn’t mean it has to be a novice Bond
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited December 2022 Posts: 3,152
    Yes, agreed, it's not that Bond has to look tough - but that he can't look like he'd be a pushover. Fine line, maybe - one of those subjective 'I'll know it when I see it' things?! ;)
  • edited December 2022 Posts: 4,133
    I do wonder what the logic is in this 'he has to look like he could fight Mr. Hinx' stuff. Same for him apparently not looking like he could seduce Monica Bellucci. Short of any of us watching Hoult's audition or having seen him fail to appear convincingly tough or seductive in a different role, I'm not really sure how anyone could make this assumption one way or the other.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    007HallY wrote: »
    I do wonder what the logic is in this 'he has to look like he could fight Mr. Hinx' stuff. Same for him apparently not looking like he could seduce Monica Bellucci. Short of any of us watching Hoult's audition or having seen him fail to appear convincingly tough or seductive in a different role, I'm not really sure how anyone could make this assumption one way or the other.

    The Monica Bellucci benchmark is a funny one. There are men her own age, that would struggle to look convincing when trying to seduce her. I mean.... she's Monica Bellucci!
  • Doesn't need to be pound for pound with Hinx. Headbutts and head-kicks should be in Bond's skillset as well as using available tools.
  • edited December 2022 Posts: 4,133
    007HallY wrote: »
    I do wonder what the logic is in this 'he has to look like he could fight Mr. Hinx' stuff. Same for him apparently not looking like he could seduce Monica Bellucci. Short of any of us watching Hoult's audition or having seen him fail to appear convincingly tough or seductive in a different role, I'm not really sure how anyone could make this assumption one way or the other.

    The Monica Bellucci benchmark is a funny one. There are men her own age, that would struggle to look convincing when trying to seduce her. I mean.... she's Monica Bellucci!

    I think the other side to this is how Bellucci herself plays this hypothetical scene and how well she plays off whichever actor one is talking about. After all, she's a solid actress and a big reason why her scenes in SP work is because she plays off of Craig effectively. They also happen to have that sense of chemistry in a way people don't see as much with Lea Seydoux and Craig.

    I mean, it's about as useful as saying 'a requirement for the next Bond actor is they should look like they'd be the sort of person to answer a telephone while mounting a chair or bed like Sean Connery did in FRWL'.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    edited December 2022 Posts: 1,645
    I'm not concerned with Hoult. In regard to the Hinx argument, look at Connery and Oddjob. He used cunning and his environment to kill a physically superior opponent, just like he does in Spectre. That's Bond.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    If you want someone who can look convincing against Hinx, cast Dwayne Johnson.

    If you want an underdog who is clearly going to get battered but somehow manages to overcome the odds using smarts and focused violence, cast a James Bond. You're supposed to fear for him in those situations and he's supposed to surprise you with his ability to survive.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    007HallY wrote: »
    I do wonder what the logic is in this 'he has to look like he could fight Mr. Hinx' stuff. Same for him apparently not looking like he could seduce Monica Bellucci. Short of any of us watching Hoult's audition or having seen him fail to appear convincingly tough or seductive in a different role, I'm not really sure how anyone could make this assumption one way or the other.

    The Monica Bellucci benchmark is a funny one. There are men her own age, that would struggle to look convincing when trying to seduce her. I mean.... she's Monica Bellucci!

    She would have been an incredible Paris Carver.
  • Posts: 15,114
    QsCat wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    I just don't see Hoult as a contender for the role, he's a fine actor and seems like a nice fella but he looks too young and too nice. I can't describe it, he just doesn't look assured.
    Agreed. Bond doesn't have to be capable of battering Mr. Hinx, but he can't look like he'd be easy meat. He's got to deal with formidable characters like Le Chiffre and contend with fatales like Lucia Sciarra without being eaten alive. I'd struggle to buy it from Hoult - 'too young and nice'.

    Hm I don’t know. I don’t think Bond has to look too tough really, himself. It’s just that when he does fight it has to look convincing. That’s when it counts. These agents are trained to handle themselves, regardless of how their face looks or even how well-built they are. For example, in Spooks there are all sorts of different looking spies. Appearing unthreatening could work in favour of Hoult’s Bond.

    ‘I’d rather see a more mature Bond myself, at the top of his game. Then again, just because they are going young it doesn’t mean it has to be a novice Bond

    Agreed. Neither Moore nor Brosnan were particularly menacing, yet their respective Bonds were depicted as capable fighters (when Moore got older it might not have looked too convincing, but still). While Dalton looked menacing enough, I always thought his Bond came off as rather inept in hand to hand combat. Which I always frustrated me.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    While Dalton looked menacing enough, I always thought his Bond came off as rather inept in hand to hand combat. Which I always frustrated me.

    I thought he was great in TLD and most of LTK.

    It’s that bar fight scene in LTK that turned my stomach. Bond, and his facial expressions, looked like a buffoon. To this day, I can’t stand watching it. I suppose they were going for humour. I never found it funny, just embarrassing.
  • Posts: 15,114
    peter wrote: »
    While Dalton looked menacing enough, I always thought his Bond came off as rather inept in hand to hand combat. Which I always frustrated me.

    I thought he was great in TLD and most of LTK.

    It’s that bar fight scene in LTK that turned my stomach. Bond, and his facial expressions, looked like a buffoon. To this day, I can’t stand watching it. I suppose they were going for humour. I never found it funny, just embarrassing.

    Maybe it's the bar brawl that did it for me and it tainted the rest of his tenure fight wise. Be that as it may, my perception is that his Bond is a mediocre fighter at best. Only Connery in DAF comes off as worse.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited December 2022 Posts: 3,152
    If you want an underdog who is clearly going to get battered but somehow manages to overcome the odds using smarts and focused violence, cast a James Bond. You're supposed to fear for him in those situations and he's supposed to surprise you with his ability to survive.
    Exactly right, I think. You don't want a roid monster who's evenly matched with Hinx and you don't want a manboy who's going to be swatted aside. You want precisely those elements that CraigMoore's identified. Well, I do, anyway.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    I find it amusing, and frustrating , that almost anyone who is physically fit , as was Craig, is seen as overly muscled or a “ roid monster’ . Craig’s build is consistent with that of anyone with a special forces/ military background. The next actor will have to have a certain degree of fitness.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited December 2022 Posts: 3,152
    No, no - it was the suggestion that Bond would need to be the size of Dwayne Johnson to put up any kind of resistance to Hinx. Which misses the point that CraigMooreOHMSS articulated so well: that's not what you want in Bond; in those circumstances, you want 'an underdog who is clearly going to get battered but somehow manages to overcome the odds using smarts and focused violence.' Which is exactly what Craig did. It worked.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    Absolutely, a larger foe always adds tension to the conflict; look at Rocky, all of his opponents were larger than him.
  • Posts: 1,630
    Venutius wrote: »
    No, no - it was the suggestion that Bond would need to be the size of Dwayne Johnson to put up any kind of resistance to Hinx. Which misses the point that CraigMooreOHMSS articulated so well: that's not what you want in Bond; in those circumstances, you want 'an underdog who is clearly going to get battered but somehow manages to overcome the odds using smarts and focused violence.' Which is exactly what Craig did. It worked.

    Indeed ! Something of a Bond tradition - and a good one ! - for Bond to face a favored opponent and have to come up with a way to win. Red Grant in FRWL was a rather normal sized man, albeit in superb condition, but it was clear for the audience that Bond would not be the favorite in a fight with Grant. and that Bond had to come up with a way to prevail. Likewise, for Bond's fight with Oddjob in GF, the blonde henchman in YOLT at Blofeld's lair (piranha chow), and more.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,011
    I think for the most part, Connery's Bond got the better of Shaw's Grant, before he even used the gadget.
  • Posts: 1,630
    I think for the most part, Connery's Bond got the better of Shaw's Grant, before he even used the gadget.

    It was a good fight for them both, yes, but before Bond used the handy dandy briefcase knife, Grant had a wire round Bond's neck and was on the way to killing Bond in the same manner in which he killed his victim on Spectre Island in the PTS...

  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    edited December 2022 Posts: 2,011
    Since62 wrote: »
    I think for the most part, Connery's Bond got the better of Shaw's Grant, before he even used the gadget.

    It was a good fight for them both, yes, but before Bond used the handy dandy briefcase knife, Grant had a wire round Bond's neck and was on the way to killing Bond in the same manner in which he killed his victim on Spectre Island in the PTS...

    Yeah, true...and Craig's Bond did something similar to Primo in NTTD....even to Fisher & Obanno in CR. It's why I think Cary watched CR's staircase fight and wanted to recreate it in NTTD during the bunker shootout.
  • Pattinson would have made a better Bond than Batman.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    Pattinson would have made a better Bond than Batman.

    I’m so happy that Batman grabbed him. I don’t see him as Bond.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited December 2022 Posts: 3,152
    Same, talos7. Ok, I'm on dodgy ground when saying that as I've never actually seen any of Pattinson's films, but I don't see anything 'Bondian' in any of his photos.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    Posts: 5,970
    I would've been happy with Pattinson in the role but he's too perfect for what Reeves did with The Batman and from before the film even came you could tell how much Pattinson wanted to do it and obviously still does so I think it was right call.

    That actually raises an interesting point because it would be nice for whoever does get cast in the role to have the same enthusiasm and passion for the James Bond legacy and someone who gets and understands the character even if they end up playing around with more superficial elements.
  • edited December 2022 Posts: 784
    It was a weird film. too many close up (1/3rd axis) shots, the story and dialogue was contrived, and the performances ended up very flat.

    Really looked forward to Colin Farrell as the penguin, but he just ended up doing an impeccable impersonation of Robert Deniro.

    I am not opposed to Hollywood trying to be more artsy, but when artfilms take themselves too seriously without any substance they just end up big boring cringefests.

    Still more interesting than Marvel, but not by much.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited December 2022 Posts: 3,152
    Denbigh wrote: »
    it would be nice for whoever does get cast in the role to have the same enthusiasm and passion for the James Bond legacy
    Yes, that'd be great. Trouble is, with the exception of Pierce, any actor who actively expresses a desire to play Bond seems to trigger an automatic veto from EON!
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