Who should/could be a Bond actor?

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  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Not sure if this has been posted in another thread, but here's the recent interview with Finlay Light.

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bonds-finlay-light-interview

    https://venetianvase.co.uk/2023/07/05/finlay-light-an-interview-with-the-australian-james-bond/

    Quite interesting stuff here.

    Thank you for posting that @ToTheRight. It's a very strange story. I find it difficult to believe they would just hire someone with hardly any screen acting credits and without even testing him. Has anyone seen him in anything?

    He's considered for Bond in the 80's before they've finally hired Dalton in the role.

    Edit: Haven't heard or even saw this name before, until I've searched it, and found that fact I've mentioned above 😁
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1960750/ (Finley Light)

    As said there (we all know IMDB 😅), he's in Case For The Defence (1978), Light played a guy there named Paul McKeller, has anyone watched that show?

    The Bond trivia about him was also there.

    Quite interesting searching about this guy 😅, he's such an oddity to me 😁
  • Posts: 7,426
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.

    Couldn't agree more! I think even George would "Ah, c'mon Mate! 😁
  • edited July 2023 Posts: 4,155
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    John Gavin might've been pretty good, going just by the photos, although I don't think I've seen his actual acting. Keeping his own accent might've been a drawback, though. I'm not a great fan of the DAF we got and I sort of wish Sean had left it alone, tbh. You know what? I'd honestly rather have had this:


    ja2iu9ycvyxa.png

    I honestly think this movie would have destroyed the franchise. They needed Connery for DAF, as much as I hate the final product, it was what Bond needed.

    But then LALD was also not that big compared to DAF either, and it's not until TSWLM that people learned to accept Moore in the role.

    I think LALD just made money as much as OHMSS does, then by TMWTGG, it became a box office failure, and still a wonder how the series strived back to life after that (TMWTGG is still one of the lowest grossing Bond films along with LTK).

    From what I can gather LALD actually made the most money. DAF made about £116 million at the box office, OHMSS £82 million, and LALD over £160 million. TMWTGG made about £92 million. I've seen a couple of different gross figures adjusted for inflation, but both TMWTGG and OHMSS are amongst the lowest grossing Bond films and not far off each other. Whatever way TMWTGG was a massive drop from LALD, which is why they 'course corrected'. All seemed to have budgets of roughly £7 million.

    For what it's worth, while it seems as though it took critics until TSWLM to really warm to Moore as Bond (it doesn't help that he was compared a lot to Connery, which I suspect didn't help Lazenby either), the numbers for LALD speak for itself. It helps that he was somewhat known from his television work and I suspect more viewers were endeared to him as Bond than Lazenby. It was a very successful film. Also, no Bond film has ever been a 'box office bomb' or failure in the strictest sense (they all earn money, it's just a case of how much). It's one of the main reasons why the franchise is still going.

    I disagree about OHMSS being one of the lowest, sure it's not as high compared to YOLT or DAF, but it's one of the highest grossing films of 1969 (maybe just being edged out by Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, or Easy Rider), but it's among the highest grossing films of 1969.

    Sure it's not as high as the other Bond films, but it's not the lowest either, if compared to the other Bond films, it's probably average in the box office.

    If there's another Bond film that could be with TMWTGG in lowest grossing Bond films, it's LTK (it did put franchise to sleep for 5 years!).

    Man, maybe LTK is possibly the one that nearly killed the Franchise at the time 😅, it's low box office along the legal battles, thankfully, Goldeneye brought back the Franchise into life!

    Like I said, no Bond film has ever been a failure in the strictest sense. Whenever a film underperforms such as TMWTGG they tend to go back, re-evaluate, and come up with something different for the next one. It pretty much always works. LTK is an unusual one as it had a lot of competition at the time (Ghostbusters 2, Lethal Weapon 2, Indiana Jones, and Batman, which is an unprecedented number of popular franchises to go up against), but it certainly didn't nearly kill the franchise. A third Dalton film was even in the works shortly after. The legal battles that halted the series for 6 years are what 'put the franchise to sleep', and the gap spurred Dalton's departure, which is unfortunate. It wasn't due to LTK underperforming.

    Anyway, as for OHMSS, it's objectively one of lower grossing films of the franchise. Like I said, with Bond you're framing its failures and successes in such a particular framework that by most accounts the series is broadly quite successful. Nonetheless OHMSS was probably on the lower end of the highest grossing films of that year (probably the 11th highest grossing film, which for the series at the time was probably a massive drop, but again there are some very heavy hitting films it went up against - https://www.the-numbers.com/market/1969/top-grossing-movies). Both TMWTGG and OHMSS aren't far off each other in this regard and were financial disappointments compared to what came before it - https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/04/18/all-26-james-bond-films-ranked-at-the-box-office/.
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Not sure if this has been posted in another thread, but here's the recent interview with Finlay Light.

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bonds-finlay-light-interview

    https://venetianvase.co.uk/2023/07/05/finlay-light-an-interview-with-the-australian-james-bond/

    Quite interesting stuff here.

    Thank you for posting that @ToTheRight. It's a very strange story. I find it difficult to believe they would just hire someone with hardly any screen acting credits and without even testing him. Has anyone seen him in anything?

    Yes, this is a weird story that tends to crop up now and again. Didn't John Glen even mention Lite's name as a potential contender? It seems there's at least some truth to the story, but of course there may well be an element of exaggeration here on his part. The casting process before a certain point in the series was a bit weird anyway even when it came to 'official contracts'. Even just reading of what happened with Brosnan at the time is odd and has been told in slightly different ways dependent on who is asked. At this point there was clearly a lot of competition for the role, and Dalton was still reluctant to do it.

    Must say, looking at the guy's photo he's another one who probably looks more suited to playing a henchman or something.
  • George_KaplanGeorge_Kaplan Being chauffeured by Tibbett
    edited July 2023 Posts: 684
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.

    Couldn't agree more! I think even George would "Ah, c'mon Mate! 😁

    And according to him, Barbara Broccoli wanted to sleep with him. He really would've been Lazenby MK II.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.

    Couldn't agree more! I think even George would "Ah, c'mon Mate! 😁

    And according to him, Barbara Broccoli wanted to sleep with him. He really would've been Lazenby MK II.

    To sleep with him? 😆 Ridiculous!

    For all what Lazenby have said, he did have (at least) some bits of courtesy in him, and it's really shown in some pictures.

    This guy was full of himself! 😂

    And I don't think Barbara would've likely to say that (let alone do that), unless, he's Daniel Craig, you know ;)
  • George_KaplanGeorge_Kaplan Being chauffeured by Tibbett
    edited July 2023 Posts: 684
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.

    Couldn't agree more! I think even George would "Ah, c'mon Mate! 😁

    And according to him, Barbara Broccoli wanted to sleep with him. He really would've been Lazenby MK II.

    To sleep with him? 😆 Ridiculous!

    For all what Lazenby have said, he did have (at least) some bits of courtesy in him, and it's really shown in some pictures.

    This guy was full of himself! 😂

    And I don't think Barbara would've likely to say that (let alone do that), unless, he's Daniel Craig, you know ;)

    Even if she did (which is entirely her business), there was really no need for him to mention it. If nothing else, it's undermining her professionalism for the sake of boosting his own ego.
  • Posts: 16,167
    SIS_HQ wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm sure there's some truth too the story, regarding Finlay Light. However, I think he's taken lessons on how to tell a story from George Lazenby, who does the job much better. Mr. Lazenby can also back it up with the fact, he actually played Bond.
    Finlay Light has no acting credentials and seemingly no proof of any contract being offered too him. He's 80's click bait.

    Couldn't agree more! I think even George would "Ah, c'mon Mate! 😁

    And according to him, Barbara Broccoli wanted to sleep with him. He really would've been Lazenby MK II.

    To sleep with him? 😆 Ridiculous!

    For all what Lazenby have said, he did have (at least) some bits of courtesy in him, and it's really shown in some pictures.

    This guy was full of himself! 😂

    And I don't think Barbara would've likely to say that (let alone do that), unless, he's Daniel Craig, you know ;)

    Even if she did (which is entirely her business), there was really no need for him to mention it. If nothing else, it's undermining her professionalism for the sake of boosting his own ego.

    Exactly. I didn't care for the thngs he said about her in this interview. Lacks real Bondian class.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    Maybe Light came off better onscreen, but I don't see... it from him in images.
  • George_KaplanGeorge_Kaplan Being chauffeured by Tibbett
    edited July 2023 Posts: 684
    My own take on what happened: Like Lazenby he must’ve had a very good agent who managed to swing him an interview and they were intrigued enough to give him a screentest. The contract he signed was probably some kind of pre-test agreement that he’d be available to take the role if it was offered to him.

    Then at some point, the media got hold of the story and blew it out of proportion (Idris Elba and ATJ-style). He may have even stirred things up himself, making it sound like it was a done deal when he was still just under consideration.

    I certainly don’t believe the guff about United Artists’ change in ownership being the only reason he was let go, or that he had “exactly the same enigmatic charisma as Sean Connery.” I assume he’s just concealing the most likely scenario that he was just one of many actors who were briefly under consideration, but were passed over because they weren’t good enough.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,789
    Well, at least, this gave light into the situation ;) (pun intended).
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    I'm surprised after how Lazenby was received, that they even looked towards another unknown/model. Surely they learnt their lesson?
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    I'm surprised after how Lazenby was received, that they even looked towards another unknown/model. Surely they learnt their lesson?

    Finlay Light, based on his IMDB, he appeared in 1978 TV series Case For The Defence, he played a character named Paul McKeller (in an episode Murder by the Book), and he's considered as Bond in 80's, so he had experience at least (if this is true).

    Not sure if he acted more than that, and he never bloomed (Lazenby, after OHMSS, at least starred in some films like Who Saw Her Die, The Man From Hong Kong, and Hawaii Five-O, even they're lesser, small time films), but this Finlay Light guy, it looks like that's the only one under his belt (and I think, it's such a minor role and just one episode), I don't think he'd even acted after that one.

    That said, if that's his only acting credit, he still would've been bad.

    The funny thing was, after Lazenby, they've went too far with Roger Green, who's a rugby player, man, at least Lazenby appeared in a commercial and more groomed as he's a model, meanwhile Green had none of that! (And yes, it happened right after OHMSS, Green was considered in 1971 DAF).

    And yes, because of that, they hadn't learned their lesson, it got worst!
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,152
    Is it true that Lazenby was the highest paid film actor in Asia for a few years after Bruce Lee died or is that just a George yarn?
  • Posts: 16,167
    Isn't that Imogen Hassall testing with Roger Green?
    She'd have made a splendid Bond girl.
    The Roger Green screentest is interesting, but TBH I think it kind of sucks.
    Nice to see Bob Simmons, though.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Venutius wrote: »
    Is it true that Lazenby was the highest paid film actor in Asia for a few years after Bruce Lee died or is that just a George yarn?

    He is, actually, he's going to star in another Bruce Lee Film, I don't know if it's the Game Of Death, but it never came to fruition, due to the problems of how to make Bruce Lee appeared on the film because of his untimely death.

    But he is, he made big films in Hong Kong, mostly in Kung Fu/Martial Arts genre.

    He also did well in Italian Cinema, like that of Who Saw Her Die where he worked with Ennio Morricone for example.
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Isn't that Imogen Hassall testing with Roger Green?
    She'd have made a splendid Bond girl.
    The Roger Green screentest is interesting, but TBH I think it kind of sucks.
    Nice to see Bob Simmons, though.

    Imogen Hassall, she's the woman who played Maria in The Persuaders, if you've seen my idea for a Bond film (it's there in the thread), I've cast her there as the Bond Girl (she could've make for a great femme fatale or villainess, as she had the looks), I also have Tony Curtis there as Felix Leiter (as he's also an interesting one), then there's Laurence Naismith as M, it's James Bond a la The Persuaders style!

    Suddenly Imogen Hassall died in the 80's, what a tragic moment.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    All this talk of The Persuaders takes me back to a sadly departed member @LordBrettSinclair and his good friend @jasonbond006
    Jason is still with us, though no longer on this forum. But they both had a love for OHMSS and The Persuaders.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited July 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Benny wrote: »
    All this talk of The Persuaders takes me back to a sadly departed member @LordBrettSinclair and his good friend @jasonbond006
    Jason is still with us, though no longer on this forum. But they both had a love for OHMSS and The Persuaders.

    Oh, it's sad, is @LordBrettSinclair dead? Or still with us?

    It's nice to see some talks for this show, I think it's underrated.

    Like them, I'm an admirer of both OHMSS and The Persuaders (I'm also a Tony Curtis fan, mainly because of this show and Some Like It Hot).

    Actually my idea regarding the Persuaders cast being in the Bond film with Roger Moore was interesting, still a question why the Producers didn't hired them, I understand Bernard Lee, but Tony Curtis? Why he's not cast (or even considered) as Felix Leiter?! He had a lot more chemistry with Moore than Hedison did, and it's also a bit coincidence because I've suddenly remembered those dialogues in Casino Royale, the book, and I think Tony Curtis would've been more closer to the Literary Felix Leiter than Hedison, because there's an American Energy in his presence, his banter with Moore would've been great in a Bond film!

    I don't know, I've watched LALD, but Moore and Hedison had really no chemistry in there, I don't feel the kinship, he worked with Dalton's Bond, but not with Moore's Bond, although he appeared in just one film, but still.

    It's already there, the American Foil to a British Snob! It's there already! The Persuaders showed it.

    Same for the actresses appeared in this series, why they're not considered or hired? Okay Madeline Smith, but so many actresses there could also be a Bond Girl, think of Cyd Hayman, or Hannah Gordon, or Prunella Ransome and yes, Imogen Hassall for example, and they're also real actresses, but alas, as with the tradition, the Producers, instead, hired models like Maud Adams, Barbara Bach, Carole Bouquet and the likes.
  • Posts: 348
    Benny wrote: »
    All this talk of The Persuaders takes me back to a sadly departed member @LordBrettSinclair and his good friend @jasonbond006
    Jason is still with us, though no longer on this forum. But they both had a love for OHMSS and The Persuaders.

    @jasonbond006 was an IMDB user who had a weird habit of insulting Craig fans and then playing a victim. I'm glad this forum doesn't put up with that.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    And @M_Blaise he created a completely fictitious acquaintance of his who’d come on this site to glowingly speak of how Jason saved him, introduced him to Bond, etc., etc… it was strange reading all of that in real time…
  • buddyoldchapbuddyoldchap Formerly known as JeremyBondon
    Posts: 190
    Happy watching everyone.

    "As a gripping thriller, this drama ticks all the boxes – there’s mystery, there’s lies, there’s a really hateful villain (Turner is surprisingly brilliant at playing an evil narcissist)"

    https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/fifteen-love-prime-video-review-aidan-turner-brilliant-narcissist-2493660
  • edited July 2023 Posts: 6,709
    Still looking the part. Would have the best hair since Pierce ;)
    SEI_164818855.jpg?resize=1536,1024
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    M_Blaise wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    All this talk of The Persuaders takes me back to a sadly departed member @LordBrettSinclair and his good friend @jasonbond006
    Jason is still with us, though no longer on this forum. But they both had a love for OHMSS and The Persuaders.

    @jasonbond006 was an IMDB user who had a weird habit of insulting Craig fans and then playing a victim. I'm glad this forum doesn't put up with that.

    The guy is banned. Why are you fellas even tagging @jasonbond006?

    Whoops!
  • edited July 2023 Posts: 579
    @Univex That's the first pic of Turner I have ever seen in which he looks like a British secret agent instead of a Sicilian low-level mobster.
  • buddyoldchapbuddyoldchap Formerly known as JeremyBondon
    Posts: 190
    @Univex That's the first pic of Turner I have ever seen in which he looks like a British secret agent instead of a Sicilian low-level mobster.

    Coming from you, that's a compliment.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    Univex wrote: »
    Still looking the part. Would have the best hair since Pierce ;)
    SEI_164818855.jpg?resize=1536,1024

    Aidan Turner is still my favourite pick for Bond #7. I do fear he's probably missed his chance unfortunately, I hope I'm wrong though
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    edited September 2023 Posts: 1,101
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  • Posts: 6,709
    Just goes to show that, whomever they choose, he better be an original ;)
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Posts: 1,101
    Univex wrote: »
    Just goes to show that, whomever they choose, he better be an original ;)

    Yeah, that's my point, forgot to mention that.
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