Question: "What other actor would you cast as James Bond?"
Andrew's Answer: There have been a lot of good names floated. Brosnan was interesting because he was the first guy who seemed like he should be Bond even before he was considered. There’s no one else like that at the moment. But I’ll tell you who I would really like to see, as odd as this may sound, is Hugh Jackman. Alternatively, James Caviezel.
Scott's Answer: In the 60s, either David Niven (who later appeared in the spoof Casino Royale) or Michael Caine (who played spy Harry Palmer). In the 80s or 90s, either Sam Neill, Liam Neeson, Charles Dance (who played a henchman in For Your Eyes Only), or Paul McGann. And today? Only one actor comes to mind and that's Clive Owen.
Micheal Fassbender. I thought he played both suave and menacing pretty well as Magneto in "X-Men First Class" and David in "Prometheus".
ReplyDeleteAdrian Paul of he Highlander TV series was floated in the 1990s. I would have been intrigued by that possibility but making a leap from a syndicated low budget TV show (as awesome and awesomely cheesy as it was) to a major movie franchise would have been difficult.
ReplyDeleteChris Hemsworth would be great as bond though he may be too big -- the fights wouldn't seem fair.
Robert Downey, Jr. would be good too -- though he may be too manic. Take that Brits -- an American playing a Brit for a change!
Shawn, Good call on Fassbender! He could do a great job!
ReplyDeleteFloyd, I saw Paul too much in the low-budget stuff to accept him as Bond.
ReplyDeleteDowney would be an awesome choice just to watch the outrage in Britain! LOL!
A couple of guys that might have been pretty good: James Purefoy and Jason Patric
ReplyDeleteClive Owen is another guy who would have been interesting
ReplyDeletethat last was an agreement with you Scott, but I must not have finished my comment properly :)
ReplyDeleteJed, Purefoy would have been interesting.
ReplyDeleteOn Owen, I know that a lot of people like him as an alternatively, but IMO, I don't see him having the savvy. He's too blunt and too gruff.
thinking out loud here; but Jude Law would be able to handle the suave part find, but may not be rugged enough. For kicks, I looked him up and he is a six footer and has great acting chops
ReplyDeletePaul Bettany... it's time for a ginger Bond dammit.
ReplyDeleteFloyd, LOL! There will never be a ginger Bond! ;P
ReplyDeleteJed, Law strikes me as a guy who is to lightweight in that respect. I don't see him as tough enough. I do like him a lot as an actor though.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jude Law goes for suave, it comes off as incredibly creepy. And isn't Bond meant to be suave?
ReplyDeleteIn the 1960s, either Stanley Baker or Richard Johnson.
ReplyDeleteToday, Ray Stevenson or Michael Fassbender.
Firstly I'd say that they got the right Bond the first time out and they have been unsuccessfully trying to replicate that since then.
ReplyDeleteClive Owen doesn't do it for me, he always looks too morose to me.
Out of those listed I could see Micheal Fassbender and Ray Stevenson in the role.
I still say that Russell Crowe could have played the role if given the chance, it would most likely be too late now.
I'd also mention Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from TV show Game Of Thrones and New Amsterdam and from Black Hawk Down. He has the size, the look and the acting ability to pull it off.
Scott.
Agree with Scott. Clone Connery.
ReplyDeleteIf that's a non starter find an unknown.
Also go back and restart the franchise as a 50s-60s period piece and stick as close to the books as possible while taking advantage of modern SFX.
Bond doesn't really need say a whole lot, but he does need to convincingly phrase witty repartees and kick ass understated martial arts. He needs a cruel mouth, a thick comma of hair, a thin white scar on his back, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to pronounce the name Pussy Galore as "pooh-sea" and do so with panache. The day some Hollywood ass gets control of the franchise, creates "Joan" Bond, and casts some bimbo actress who wants to be Michelle Obama's gal pal in the title role will be a very sad day for the order.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Anthony Head is probably too old now... So I'd go with the James Caviezel idea. It might be time to pick a more unknown from television - start taking a look at some of the BBC shows.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I'm more concerned about the next Doctor than the next Bond!
Floyd, good call on Paul Bettany! He's one of those "what else is he in?" actors that always jumps out to me. I think he could Bond. He has a good combination of suave, humor, and menace.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, there is always hair dye.
Floyd and Tryanmax - Paul Bettany Really?? ? I think not. Playing Geoffrey Chaucer in "A Knight's Tale," and Doctor McCoy in "Master & Commander" forever disfualified him from being Bond. You might as well cast Beyonce (see earlier comment.) Sure he played a villain in that film with Harrison Ford, but he still came off as a bit of a puss, and by then, Harrison was already 82 years old so any man card tough guy points he might have garnered don't really count. :)
ReplyDeleteJed, that's not really fair because:
ReplyDeletea) Connery was in Darby O'Gill and the Little People before he was Bond, and that didn't DQ him.
b) If you could somehow put Harrison Ford in a room with himself, one of 'em would make the other look like a puss.
c) Firewall wasn't that good a movie.
Jed, Beyonce! Excellent choice! LOL! Arrrg. Just the thought makes my soul hurt.
ReplyDeletegoldvermilion, I agree. I like Jude as an actor, but he comes across a little strangely. And you're right, when he doesn't play "naive" he tends to come across as a little creepy.
ReplyDeleteBackthrow, Stanley Baker would have been an interesting choice. I'd have to see him in other films before I could say anything for certain on that.
ReplyDeleteScott, I agree about Connery. And I think they hit a home run with Craig too.
ReplyDeleteNikolaj Coster-Waldau would be an excellent choice! And along Black Hawk Down lines, how about Jason Isaacs?
K, Apparently genes aren't patentable, so perhaps we can clone him?
ReplyDeletetryanmax, You can't hide ginger with hair dye. ;P
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteHere's some short Stanley Baker clips from some films made during the Connery/Lazenby years:
EVA (1962)
THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED (1963)
THE LAST GRENADE (1969)
PERFECT FRIDAY (1970)
INNOCENT BYSTANDERS (1972) and brief trailer
--I think he'd be up to the job. :)
PDBronco, I liked Smith a lot. In fact, I've liked each of their choices since they restarted the show.
ReplyDeleteBackthrow, He might be. I just need to see them first to judge.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I'd say that Jason Isaacs is a bit too old to play the role though I could see him as a young M or a villain.
ReplyDeleteScott.
Scott, At this point, yeah. He would make a great villain though!
ReplyDeleteI love RDowney, but I think one of the reasons his characters are so good these days is that he keeps a bit of self-awareness, almost a nudge nudge wink wink with the audience, and he couldn't do that with Bond. The old Bond was so over the top that adding that awareness would be too much, and new Bond is too gritty or "real" for that to work.
ReplyDeleteDCraig is doing a good job of it... so maybe one of the newbies will grow into the role when it come available in about a decade.
shawn and Andrew -
ReplyDeleteMichael Fassbender played a VERY Bond-like character in Steven Soderbergh's Haywire.
There are clips on YouTube but only of their fight scene. :-)
Jed -
ReplyDeleteI've always liked Jude Law even though he may not have achieved the stardom people thought he would, say, 10 years ago. But while he's a good actor, I'm not 100% sure he could do the physical part as well as the suave part.
Clive Owen, on the other hand, could do both. :-)
Scott/Anon and Andrew -
ReplyDeleteI'd LOVE to see Jason Isaacs in a Bond film, in any role. I've been a fan for a while and in interviews, he seems like a cool, down to Earth guy.
Chris Pine
ReplyDeletewith J.J. Abrams directing - isn't it in Abrams' contract that he gets to reboot (and by reboot, I mean ruin) every series/franchise in Hollywood?
(cue lens flare to help me get out before the brickbats start flying...)
next up: Lassie, Rebooted! by J. J. Abrams
wulfscott -- now hold onto that though for a moment. I think Lassie rebooted as a sci-fi mystery adventure (with lens flare) has some potential. In 1955, aliens land on Timmy's farm...
ReplyDeleteScott, I haven't seen Haywire. I'll have to look for it.
ReplyDeleteI like Isaacs a lot as well in everything I've seen him in.
wulfscott, Chris Pine, LOL! Arg.
ReplyDeleteI think Abrams should be appointed the ruiner of all existing properties. And I like the idea of a Lassie reboot. We can make Lassie a cyborg werewolf with a drinking problem.
Actually I think Jude Law has been very good in the Sherlock Holmes movies, but he wouldn't be my choice for Bond.
ReplyDeleteBenedict Cumberbatch could do it, but he might be a bit too popular right now.
I love the idea of Isaacs as M.
Speaking of Dr Who, Christopher Eccleston would make a good Bond. Or Rufus Sewell?
Mycroft, I like Law a lot, but not as Bond. Cumberbatch would be an interesting choice.
ReplyDeleteCumberbatch needs to not be Bond, because then he'd be stuck in a big movie franchise, and might ignore more important things like Cabin Pressure, and maybe even Sherlock. As brilliant as he was in STXII, it would be a waste if he became an action film hero permanently.
ReplyDeleteBut he could pull it off. A man who can play a pedophile, an awkward post-Victorian gentleman, an incompetent insecure airline pilot, Sherlock Holmes, a quintessential quizbowl team captain, KHAAAAAAAAAAN, and many many more -- all very effectively, too -- could play Bond. Of that I'm convinced.
RUFUS SEWELL SHOULD BE THE NEXT BOND! He is suave and edgy. And I bet he'd be excellent in action sequences.
goldie, that's what I meant about Cumberbatch being too popular right now. I mean, he's even the voice of Smaug.
ReplyDeleteSewell was good in Dark City, Knight's Tale and Zorro, but while he seems to get a lot of work, he hasn't exactly broken out as a major star. Committing to Bond for 10 years wouldn't sideline his career.
Gotcha.
ReplyDeleteIt's rather ironic that we want a great actor to become _less_ popular. :-)
goldvermilion, Isn't that interesting? Both that we don't want great actors wasted in "big" films and that we want our "great" actors to be less popular. We are a contradiction indeed.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm a long time believer that you should almost never cast famous actors in anything that you want taken really seriously. It's just too hard to separate (for example) "Tom Cruise" from the character and his fame and everything about his outside life will take over the film.
And if you do cast famous actors in such a role, then need to cast them against type.
Mycroft, I like Sewell a lot in Dark City and in Knight's Tale, I just haven't seen him in anything Bond-like and I'm having a hard time picturing him in that kind of role. I'm not saying he can't do it, I'm just still trying to put it together in my mind. He's got the look and the intensity, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's that we want them to be less popular, per se. If Sherlock as it is on BBC1 were shown instead on the big screen and had a Warner Brother's watermark, I'd be pleased as punch. I just worry that an actor could get stuck in the kind of action flicks that have 10 minutes of dialogue to every two hours of fighting, plus an almost-sex scene or two.
ReplyDeleteI particularly worry about this with Cumberbatch because his fanbase is humiliatingly low-minded, to put it nicely. (I always feel ashamed to admit that I'm a female who is a fan of Cumberbatch, because I'm afraid it will imply that I want to have his babies, write porn about him, and call myself his . . . female dog? Ugh!)
Anthony Hopkins survived fame, even if he is a bit typecast. I don't think he ever had a rabid drooling fanbase, though. . .
Recast Bond? Hm, tough one... I'm going to approach this in a heretical way. Since Sean Connery is considered the standard, the only way to improve on that is to bring something to the role that Connery didn't.
ReplyDeleteNow, I know it's often considered heretical and even blasphemous to say that Connery's Bond wasn't perfect. In the geek world, it opens one up to Killing Curses, Force Strangles, Targeting by T-800's, the Vulcan Touch of Death- whatever your franchise of choice. But bear with me...
My one gripe with Connery is that he doesn't seem dangerous. I like how Craig plays the character as a borderline madman barely controlling his psyche while pretending to be a gentleman. Connery, by comparison, was Fonzie-esque cool. Now, Craig isn't perfect, either. He's almost too serious at times. So, with that in mind, here are some suggestions for re-casting Bond.
(continued...)
-Rustbelt
My first pick- William Peterson, circa mid, late 80's.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to my point above, I'd like to reference Peterson's portrayal of Inspector Graham from 'Manhunter' (1986). (It's the first attempt to film Thomas Harris' 'Red Dragon.' The name was changed so people wouldn't think it was a kung fu movie.) I thought Peterson did a good job as a man who considered himself borderline insane- hance his ability to understand and thus track serial killers. His scene with Bryan Cox as Hannibal Leckter (for some reason, this film has a 'K' in Lecter's name) speaks volumes. Though too old to play the role today, I think Peterson could've been effective back then.
And, yes. I agree! If a Brit can play an American, then an American can play a Brit! End the discrimination, I say! We march on London later, or whenever we feel like it.
My other pick would be- Boris Karloff, in his late 20's, early 30's.
Karloff already had the British gentleman thing down in real life. And in his horror films, he showed his ability to play characters with a dark side. Plus, unlike some of his contemporaries from the golden age of Universal horror films, he showed he could branch out and do detective or film noir as well. I think he had the range to play Bond, if he'd lived (and thus been cast) at the right age and time period.
Okay, there's my two suggestions, straight out of left field. Good ideas, or am I just crazy?
-Rustbelt
goldvermilion, A lot of fans of a lot of actors are getting kind of creepy these days.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the fame. I think by fame we just mean that we don't want our favorite actors getting pulled into the machine that turns them into generic stars.
Rustbelt, One T-800 coming up! :P
ReplyDeleteBoris Karloff? That is perhaps the most bizarre suggestion I've ever heard! LOL!
Yes, let's march on London! :D