I agree to an extent he may be a little darker but look at Connery as Bond he was always well tanned and olive complected not to mention I think several others maybe not quite be quite as dark as Paul and Connery, but I don't think that should be a deterant if he fits all the other fundamental criteria which I think he more than does. All I ask is just don't give the man a shove because of the skin color....I think he could still pull off the part beautifully.
To be honest, Paul's skin tone is probably the number one thing I have against him.
Nothing to do with racism. I mean, I'm a British subject myself, born and raised in the UK, but my own skin tone is pretty much identical to Paul's, thanks to various, uh, international adventures my ancestors had. And because I don't look like your typical "white Brit" (I've been taken for everything from French to Turkish in my own country), I wouldn't consider myself a suitable Bond candidate (if I were an actor, that is). For me, Paul doesn't appear to fit the image of 007 from an ethnic point of view, in pretty much the same way as, say, Colin Salmon doesn't.
I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder, though. I've never thought Connery particularly dark, although I guess Lazenby has a similar olive complexion to Paul's. And Brosnan seems to have a nice tan (all that Malibu sunshine, no doubt). But Paul's Mediterranean face just isn't Bondian, as far as I'm concerned.
