76 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Check it out:

Bamigboye also adds that Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli have had “many meetings over casting” with the duo already reportedly eying theater veteran Simon Russell Beale, a friend of Mendes’ whom Broccoli has visited twice at his play “Deathtrap” for a role. The casting would make a lot of sense as Mendes and Beale have collaborated many times before on stage in such productions as “Twelfth Night,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Cherry Orchard” with the duo set to reunite once again on a production of “King Lear” in 2012.

A quality thespian like Beale, who only recently joined Terrence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Tom Hiddleston and Rachel Weisz, would be a welcome addition to the ‘Bond’ series and perhaps fitting for the head of Quantum, the organization Bond has been chasing in the last two films. Beale had previously revealed ambitions to be a part of Mendes’ ‘Bond’ film saying, “Every actor wants to be in Bond. I’d love to be a baddie. I saw Sam just before Christmas and dropped a hint – and he just looked wearily at me.”

http://blogs.indiewi...tm_medium=feed#

[Quantumofsolace007]

I wouldn't mind it if He was the villian. He a good actor

[DamnCoffee]

Cheers, Zencat. I wouldn't mind this at all. The only thing is though, I hope his talents aren't wasted like Mathieu Amalric's were. The Craig Era has a problem of not making the villains menacing enough. Fair enough. Le Chiffre was brilliant, but every other villian in Casino and Quantum were average at best.

The villains always seem to be too underdeveloped.

[Doctor Whom]

Cheers, Zencat. I wouldn't mind this at all. The only thing is though, I hope his talents aren't wasted like Mathieu Amalric's were. The Craig Era has a problem of not making the villains menacing enough. Fair enough. Le Chiffre was brilliant, but every other villian in Casino and Quantum were average at best.

The villains always seem to be too underdeveloped.

That's been a problem for a long time. Michael G. Wilson apparently thinks that stong villains overshadow Bond. If anything, weak villains weaken Bond.

[Matt_13]

It'll be hard to overshadow Craig, because he is a titan all his own. It will take a LOT for someone to take away from his performance, so I think we deserve a very strong central threat this time around. Wonderful news.

[Chief of SIS]

love the idea. Love him in the recent series of Spooks. Also love his other work. That being said this rumor probably started from this article awhile back in early November...

http://www.thisislon...bond-villain.do

He's in the new series of Spooks but implies that this is the result of a major casting error and jokily claims to have asked Mendes for the part of a cat-stroking villain if his planned Bond film ever happens.

[Guy Haines]

Cheers, Zencat. I wouldn't mind this at all. The only thing is though, I hope his talents aren't wasted like Mathieu Amalric's were. The Craig Era has a problem of not making the villains menacing enough. Fair enough. Le Chiffre was brilliant, but every other villian in Casino and Quantum were average at best.

The villains always seem to be too underdeveloped.

I agree. A powerful actor as the villain in a Craig Bond movie wouldn't overshadow this particular Bond, but would be a real challenge to him. So why not cast one?

(And as regards the topic of this thread, there is, of course, another Bond movie role Simon Russell Beale could be considered for, assuming there was a vacancy for it. A recurring role, and the incumbent is a grande Dame of the acting profession.)

Edited by Guy Haines, 03 December 2010 - 07:41 PM.

[Skudor]

Cheers, Zencat. I wouldn't mind this at all. The only thing is though, I hope his talents aren't wasted like Mathieu Amalric's were. The Craig Era has a problem of not making the villains menacing enough. Fair enough. Le Chiffre was brilliant, but every other villian in Casino and Quantum were average at best.

The villains always seem to be too underdeveloped.

I agree. A powerful actor as the villain in a Craig Bond movie wouldn't overshadow this particular Bond, but would be a real challenge to him. So why not cast one?

(And as regards the topic of this thread, there is, of course, another Bond movie role Simon Russell Beale could be considered for, assuming there was a vacancy for it. A recurring role, and the incumbent is a grande Dame of the acting profession.)

My thoughts exactly.

[doublenoughtspy]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.



I think he could work as M.

[marktmurphy]

He'd be great: a very watchable actor.

Smiley vs. Bond!

[Guy Haines]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.



I think he could work as M.

I must admit that the name Jan Werich also occured to me after viewing that photograph of Simon Russell Beale above. Although I think Beale looks rather more menacing. But on the strength of, for example, his appearance as the Home Secretary in series 9 of Spooks (aka MI5), he could make a pretty good M.

(I was tempted to say "his appearance as yet another Home Secretary", because we've had three actors in the role over two Spooks series. In real life UK politics, the cabinet post of Home Secretary is often described as a political "kiss of death", but in Spooks holding that post can be fatal, quite literally! )

Edited by Guy Haines, 03 December 2010 - 08:29 PM.

[stromberg]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.



I think he could work as M.

Of course, the Werich analogy springs to mind. But then again, his replacement, waddling Donald Pleasence, didn't look much more menacing, so they had to give him that scar.
I'm certain that they could have done something similar with Werich, that's why I never believed that his sacking was only based on his looks.

Saw an interesting new documentary yesterday on the life of Gert Fröbe, with some material I've never seen before. Really had to laugh at one point and said "Werich look, most definitely" Mind you, it's Mr Goldfinger, who's widely regarded as one of the best Bond villains

 werich_look.jpg   72.63KB   20 downloads

[K1Bond007]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.



I think he could work as M.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. He looks more like M than a villain.

[Quantumofsolace007]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.



I think he could work as M.

Of course, the Werich analogy springs to mind. But then again, his replacement, waddling Donald Pleasence, didn't look much more menacing, so they had to give him that scar.
I'm certain that they could have done something similar with Werich, that's why I never believed that his sacking was only based on his looks.

Saw an interesting new documentary yesterday on the life of Gert Fröbe, with some material I've never seen before. Really had to laugh at one point and said "Werich look, most definitely" Mind you, it's Mr Goldfinger, who's widely regarded as one of the best Bond villains

 werich_look.jpg   72.63KB   20 downloads

He looks like Santa in that pic.


Craig era bond villians are menacing in their actions not in their looks Beale as a good actor could portary a villian and well too.

[blueman]

I'd prefer Rachel Weisz. As the head of Quantum. Or Tilda Swinton.

[Vauxhall]

I've only seen him in SPOOKS, but he seems to have some decent acting credentials on stage. Would be an interesting choice, for sure, and heavily dictated by Mendes' influence. He can obviously act though, which is certainly an improvement on some casting choices in years gone by.

[Pussfeller]

He'd be excellent as a villain of the "dark father" variety, which we haven't had in years. My favorite Bond villains have always been the older guys, the ones whose menace is not physical but intellectual. They're scarier and a more credible threat. Most of the early villains were that way: Goldfinger, Largo, Blofeld... Since the Brosnan era there's been a fashion for young, physically active villains, essentially anti-Bonds. (Perhaps that's Wilson's influence.) Of the previous six villains, five have been as young as Bond or younger: Trevelyan, Renard, Gustave Graves, Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene. With the possible exception of Trevelyan, I just don't find the young villains to be compelling characters, let alone worthy adversaries. It winds up being a fistfight between Bond and the baddie, which isn't particularly interesting.

I'd love to see Bond once more pitted against a genuine mogul of death, a seasoned, wily old S.O.B. who leaves the rough stuff to the henchmen. The villain's downfall must contain an element of pathos and tragedy. It can't be just a punk getting rubbed out. This may sound pretentious, but I'd even say that a good Bond villain is like the hero in a Greek tragedy, the twist being that his fatal flaw is hidden and dormant, and must be discovered and activated by Bond. Even so, Bond is merely the blunt instrument by which the villain seals his own fate. Bond is a shadow. The villain has to be richer, more fully realized, even more human, than Bond. And an older, more experienced actor is far more likely to pull that off.

[Pussfeller]

Now that I think of it, the young/forgettable villain trend coincides almost perfectly with the changing of the guard from Cubby to Michael and Babs. The current producers would seem to have a very clear conception of what a Bond villain ought to be, and that is an evil mirror of Bond, a person who boasts all the accomplishments and powers of a classic supervillain, but who is implausibly young and hands-on. It's like they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. In light of this, perhaps it's unlikely that they'll ever cast an older actor like Simon Russell Beale in the role of the main villain. More likely they'd put him in a minor, advisory role, like that of the German scientist in AVTAK. Still, I hope the rumor turns out to be true. Maybe Mendes will prevail on the producers to try something new. (Or rather, to go back to what works.)

[Guy Haines]

He'd be excellent as a villain of the "dark father" variety, which we haven't had in years. My favorite Bond villains have always been the older guys, the ones whose menace is not physical but intellectual. They're scarier and a more credible threat. Most of the early villains were that way: Goldfinger, Largo, Blofeld... Since the Brosnan era there's been a fashion for young, physically active villains, essentially anti-Bonds. (Perhaps that's Wilson's influence.) Of the previous six villains, five have been as young as Bond or younger: Trevelyan, Renard, Gustave Graves, Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene. With the possible exception of Trevelyan, I just don't find the young villains to be compelling characters, let alone worthy adversaries. It winds up being a fistfight between Bond and the baddie, which isn't particularly interesting.

I'd love to see Bond once more pitted against a genuine mogul of death, a seasoned, wily old S.O.B. who leaves the rough stuff to the henchmen. The villain's downfall must contain an element of pathos and tragedy. It can't be just a punk getting rubbed out. This may sound pretentious, but I'd even say that a good Bond villain is like the hero in a Greek tragedy, the twist being that his fatal flaw is hidden and dormant, and must be discovered and activated by Bond. Even so, Bond is merely the blunt instrument by which the villain seals his own fate. Bond is a shadow. The villain has to be richer, more fully realized, even more human, than Bond. And an older, more experienced actor is far more likely to pull that off.

I agree with you. Ian Fleming always saw the Bond against the villain part of his plots as Bond taking on a "father figure" (as opposed to Bond taking orders from that other father figure, M.) There are a number of older actors out there who could portray such a villain (my favourite would be Sir ian McKellan). I'm not against Bond opposing a younger villain or one of his age group as such, provided that adversary was more than a match for Bond intellectually as well as physically.

[Loomis]

He looks about as menacing as Jan Werich in the YOLT shots that still exist from his brief stint before he was replaced as Blofeld.

We can't judge an actor from one photo. In any case, I don't think a Bond villain necessarily needs to look menacing (many of the great Bond villains from the past didn't) - being menacing is the key thing. And it's certainly time that Bond faced an older baddie again (although one can argue that Mr White has fulfilled the evil father figure role in the past two films, and done a fine job of it too).

However, it's surely far too early for any casting rumours to be credible.

[007jamesbond]

Maybe he should be M since he already played a similar role for Spooks as the Home Secretary?

[Bond_Assassin90]

Very interesting. I've never seen his work but just by his picture I think he'd be a great choice, gives off a Goldfinger vibe kind of.

[Janus Assassin]

I hope they use some of the unused material from the YOLT novel and mix it in with the Quantum theme. Say Bond is sent to investigate Dr. Shatterhand(Beale) and the whole garden of death element (which I think would work well in a Craig film) and reveal that Shatterhand is actually the leader of Quantum. Just a thought.

[blueman]

I hope they use some of the unused material from the YOLT novel and mix it in with the Quantum theme. Say Bond is sent to investigate Dr. Shatterhand(Beale) and the whole garden of death element (which I think would work well in a Craig film) and reveal that Shatterhand is actually the leader of Quantum. Just a thought.

Works for me.

[Guy Haines]

I hope they use some of the unused material from the YOLT novel and mix it in with the Quantum theme. Say Bond is sent to investigate Dr. Shatterhand(Beale) and the whole garden of death element (which I think would work well in a Craig film) and reveal that Shatterhand is actually the leader of Quantum. Just a thought.

Works for me.

Good idea. Since the producers seem loathe to re-introduce Blofeld and SPECTRE, why not have Shatterhand (Blofeld in all but real name) as the Number 1 of Quantum? (which always struck me as a 21st century SPECTRE operating under a pseudonym.)

Plus - if he is still interested in a Bond hat trick - a final confrontation between Daniel Craig's Bond and Jesper Christensen's Mr White - with a grisly end for one of them in the Garden of Death?

[blueman]

Now if only the Garden of Death included a cove with a giant squid in it... they never used that scene from the DN novel, really really hope they put it in a film someday, and tying it in to the also unused Garden of Death seems like a good fit! Piranha pools are so passé anyway.

[Guy Haines]

Now if only the Garden of Death included a cove with a giant squid in it... they never used that scene from the DN novel, really really hope they put it in a film someday, and tying it in to the also unused Garden of Death seems like a good fit! Piranha pools are so passé anyway.

Too true about piranha fish. Not even Dr Evil used them - preferring "mutant Sea Bass", I recall. As for the giant squid, with the state of film special effects these days, I'd be surprised if they couldn't produce one for Bond to wrestle with.

[Pussfeller]

Now if only the Garden of Death included a cove with a giant squid in it... they never used that scene from the DN novel, really really hope they put it in a film someday, and tying it in to the also unused Garden of Death seems like a good fit! Piranha pools are so passé anyway.

Too true about piranha fish. Not even Dr Evil used them - preferring "mutant Sea Bass", I recall. As for the giant squid, with the state of film special effects these days, I'd be surprised if they couldn't produce one for Bond to wrestle with.

My campy half would love to see Bond once more plunged into the midst of a ferocious aquatic swarm of something or other. You don't get more Bondian than that. Let's see, there were the sharks in TB, the piranhas in YOLT, both alligators and sharks in LALD, the anaconda in MR, those unforgettable leeches in OP, the sharks in LTK... am I forgetting anything? Maybe Bond should be pitted against some sort of giant, mutated seahorse. Or a vicious swarm of tiny, mutated whales. And his only hope is to release a cloud of ink using a special ink-releasing pen.

[Zorin Industries]

Beale's involvement could only represent a thoroughly good choice of a very well regarded actor. I don't know why folk are worrying about his age. He's an actor, darling. They act. And as he is extremely good friends with Mr Mendes, the stars could well align over the casting department's desk at Eon House. I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Though Barbara Broccoli going to the same play twice means very little. She is an avid theatre-goer - hence some of the casting developments in Bond over the last 15 years.

[Sir James Moloney]

Now if only the Garden of Death included a cove with a giant squid in it... they never used that scene from the DN novel, really really hope they put it in a film someday, and tying it in to the also unused Garden of Death seems like a good fit! Piranha pools are so passé anyway.

Too true about piranha fish. Not even Dr Evil used them - preferring "mutant Sea Bass", I recall. As for the giant squid, with the state of film special effects these days, I'd be surprised if they couldn't produce one for Bond to wrestle with.

My campy half would love to see Bond once more plunged into the midst of a ferocious aquatic swarm of something or other. You don't get more Bondian than that. Let's see, there were the sharks in TB, the piranhas in YOLT, both alligators and sharks in LALD, the anaconda in MR, those unforgettable leeches in OP, the sharks in LTK... am I forgetting anything? Maybe Bond should be pitted against some sort of giant, mutated seahorse. Or a vicious swarm of tiny, mutated whales. And his only hope is to release a cloud of ink using a special ink-releasing pen.

Barracudas Fleming would love it.

And about Beale, I can definitely see him as M, or, and this is just a quick thought here, what about as Boothroyd? He can be quite amusing and serious at the same time.

And Zorin, I got to agree, his involvement is, at the very least, indicative that they are considering well regarded actors...again in the lines of Mads or Amalric.

Edited by Sir James Moloney, 06 December 2010 - 01:19 PM.