12 replies to this topic

[Double-0 Six]

I first saw this bloke in A Knights Tale playing Edward, the dark prince. He was pretty good in that, I thought. A good actor and quite commanding.

The only other film I've seen him in is Resident Evil, and that got me thinking that he does have a certain "Bondness" about him.

He's 40, not too well-known to have any baggage with him in the role, is a decent actor from what I've seen, and looks Bondish. What do you think?


Page on IMDB: http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0700856/

Photo:

Attached Files

•  jamespurefoy.jpg   41.45KB   47 downloads

[Agent 76]

no...he doesn't fit the 007 type.

[Double-0 Six]

Why not?


He's got the same qualities as the other actors mentioned as regards looks. He's British. He's not too famous. He's roughly the right age ...

[Mister Asterix]

He doesn

[Kingdom Come]

He looks great to me.

[KB 007]

006, yes he's been mentioned many times before.

You posted a bad picture of him, one that doesn't look very Bondish. Many people on this board like Agent76 will judge an actor by one picture and dismiss him.

I think he certainly has the looks for Bond, but I've never watched him in a big role.

Here are a few pictures:

Edited by KB 007, 01 March 2004 - 10:17 PM.

[Double-0 Six]

Yeah, I know it wasn't the best picture around, but I couldn't seem to get any of the others to save onto my hard drive properly. Thanks for posting the extra pictures KB 007, I'd be interested in hearing more opinions.

Apologies to Agent76 for the overdose ...

[Turn]

Just based on the pictures submitted by KB 007, I'd definitely be willing to at least include him in the cast of realistic Bond candidates. Just based on that he seems to project more of a Bond image than Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Grant or some of the other big-name people others like to throw around.

Interestingly, his IMDB bio claims he tested for GoldenEye. I've also heard people like Adrian Paul also tested, but I was always under the impression that when Dalton left, Brosnan was immediately asked to take over the role. Does anybody know for sure if others tested for GE or is this just legend?

[crashdrive]

Does anybody know for sure if others tested for GE or is this just legend?

Because Broccoli didn't want the take any risks with Brosnan (fair after the whole 'Remington Steele' debacle back in 87), EON tested ten other actors. Here's a list of the actors who tested back in 94:

- Sean Bean
- Ralph Fiennes
- Mark Frankel
- Jason Isaacs
- Jeremy Northam
- Clive Owen
- Nathaniel Parker
- James Purefoy
- Colin Wells
- Greg Wise

Bean was apparantly Barbara's favorite (although I can't see why), but is out of the race, because of his appearance as Alec Trevelyan in 'GoldenEye'. Fiennes came across as 'stiff' and wanted to take the role in an entirely different direction. Frankel reportedly did an excellent job, but he died two years later. Isaacs also did an impressive job and on the strength of his audition tape he landed parts in 'Armageddon' amongst others. According to Northam, he wasn't what the producers wanted, so his audition was gone in sixty seconds. Not much is known about the auditions of Owen (to this day Owen denies that he was ever approached by EON), Parker, Purefoy and Wise. Wells apparantly did a well enough job to land the gig of Brosnan's bodydouble during auditions.

Ever since, several other actors have tested or had meetings with EON top dogs.

[Loomis]

Not much is known about the auditions of Owen (to this day Owen denies that he was ever approached by EON)

In that case, how can we be sure he actually auditioned?

If he did, it's certainly a screentest I'd love to see!

[Turn]

Thanks for the info, crashdrive.

I think a compilation of screentests of actors who have tested to be Bond would be a great future addition in a future special edition DVD.

[Killmaster]

Just as a thought... when I saw the photos of Purefoy from earlier in the thread, the first thing that jumped out at me was how much he resembled Bond as drawn in the newspaper comics serials. Very masculine, very rugged... alot like a young rough-around-the-edges Connery. Could be a possibility. Not a first choice, but someone to keep in mind.

[Johnboy007]

He reminds me of the actor (whose name escapes me) that played Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons".

I don't really know what to say, I have never heard of him.