49 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

3. Sybil was too strong of a character for Bond and they thought she would make Moore look wimpy.

Welcome to CBn, you seem to be quite knowledgable on this. Kind of weird for them if that was the reason and they then had the what can be said "too strong" Mayday character. (As it has been pointed out with some of the posters for the film, A View To A Kill)

[Triton]

I did ask her about the Octopussy thing at Comic Con, and while she never auditioned, she did say she talked to Cubby (or someone talked to Cubby on her behalf) and Cubby felt she was too "strong" to be cast against Moore at that time. But she was very pleased that her friend Maud Adams got the part. That's her story and she's sticking to it (and it does make sense).

She was very nice, btw.

She gave me her card: www.sybildanning.net

Thanks for the information Zencat!

[zencat]

1. She was picked to play opposite Bond in "For Your Eyes Only" but lost out to that other actress (Corinne Clearie?) because she was "French" and the movie had "French Financing".

I think you mean Moonraker, don't you? That was the film that received a large amount of financing for France (hence the move from Pinewood to Paris). Yes, the part of "Corinne" was originally suppose to be 'Trudie', and all-American blonde California girl. I could sure see Sybil in that part, but I never knew she was up for it. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

Welcome to CBn, Cairo.

[Robinson]

Hard to imagine when you look at all the straight-to-video howlers on her CV but in the eighties she was up for a lot of big roles, including being a candidate for the part of Vasquez in Aliens. (There's a long and weird story about how she lost out on that one)

Dude, can you share this long and weird story or is it on the audio commentary for ALIENS:SE?

At the job, we've been sharing stories and revelations about what famous stars passed on(or got passed over) roles in films that became blockbusters:

Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in PREDATOR
Christopher Walken as Han Solo in STAR WARS

If anyone knows of any other casting tidbits- pass it on. Maybe we can create a thread on the General Discussion Thread.

[zencat]

Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in  PREDATOR
Christopher Walken as Han Solo in STAR WARS

If anyone knows of any other casting tidbits- pass it on.

James Brolin as James Bond in Octopussy.

Apparently, if Roger and Cubby couldn't come to terms, it was going to be Brolin.

[Turn]

Hard to imagine when you look at all the straight-to-video howlers on her CV but in the eighties she was up for a lot of big roles, including being a candidate for the part of Vasquez in Aliens. (There's a long and weird story about how she lost out on that one)

Dude, can you share this long and weird story or is it on the audio commentary for ALIENS:SE?

At the job, we've been sharing stories and revelations about what famous stars passed on(or got passed over) roles in films that became blockbusters:

Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in PREDATOR
Christopher Walken as Han Solo in STAR WARS

If anyone knows of any other casting tidbits- pass it on. Maybe we can create a thread on the General Discussion Thread.

Wow, never heard the Mickey Rourke as Maverick one. He was one of my favorite actors back in the day, but could never hear him saying things like "I feel the need for speed" or playing volleyball on the beach. Maverick called for more of a pretty boy rebel rather than a gritty rebel.

Kevin Spacey did a killer take on Walken auditioning for Star Wars in an old Saturday Night Live episode.

Paramount execs wanted everybody from Robert Redford to James Caan to play Michael in The Godfather, while none wanted Al Pacino. And Ronald Reagan was originally to play Rick in Casablanca before Bogart got it. Another one was producers wanted Elvis to play the Kris Kristofferson role in the 1976 verion of A Star is Born opposite Streisand. It was to be his movie comeback role but he didn't want to do it.

[Roebuck]

Hard to imagine when you look at all the straight-to-video howlers on her CV but in the eighties she was up for a lot of big roles, including being a candidate for the part of Vasquez in Aliens. (There's a long and weird story about how she lost out on that one)

Dude, can you share this long and weird story or is it on the audio commentary for ALIENS:SE?

I remember it from an old magazine interview. Vasquez, like Ripley before her, was originally conceived as a man but somebody on the production thought Danning would be good in the film and suggested one of the Colonial Marines parts could be re-written for her. Then some bright spark noticed that the Austrian born Danning didn't look particularly Hispanic. Instead of changing the name of the character they decided instead to ditch Sybil and sign instead the distinctly non-Hispanic Jenette Goldstein.

Well, that's the version Sybil was telling. Make of it what you will.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Then some bright spark noticed that the Austrian born Danning didn't look particularly Hispanic. Instead of changing the name of the character they decided instead to ditch Sybil and sign instead the distinctly non-Hispanic Jenette Goldstein. 

For those who arn't too sure, Jenette Goldstein play's the foster mother in T2. Talk about a transformation into Vasquez.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

[quote name='zencat' date='27 July 2004 - 22:26'] [quote name='Robinson' date='27 July 2004 - 21:20'] Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in

[Qwerty]

[quote name='PrinceKamalKhan' date='31 July 2004 - 20:31'] [quote name='zencat' date='27 July 2004 - 22:26'] [quote name='Robinson' date='27 July 2004 - 21:20'] Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in

[PrinceKamalKhan]

[quote name='Qwerty' date='31 July 2004 - 19:26'] [quote name='PrinceKamalKhan' date='31 July 2004 - 20:31'] [quote name='zencat' date='27 July 2004 - 22:26'] [quote name='Robinson' date='27 July 2004 - 21:20'] Mickey Rourke as "Maverick" in TOP GUN
Will Smith as "Neo" in THE MATRIX
Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP
Jean Claude VanDamme as The Predator in

[Qwerty]

Definitely agreed. You don't introduce a new actor as Bond when a rival Bond film is on the horizon, such as Never Say Never Again.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

After Mommie Dearest, and Faye Dunaway's excellent and sometimes shocking portrayal of Joan Crawford in 1981, could audiences accept Dunaway as the Bond girl?

Maybe as a campy villainess, like the one she played in Supergirl, but not as a regular Bond girl. At least not at that point in her career. I doubt MGM/UA and EON could have afforded Miss Dunaway anyway. Remember, this was the era when Oscar winning actresses generally considered the prospect of being a Bond girl "beneath them." Times certainly have changed.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I came across there poses od Sybil, but I don't know if they were part of the "Octopussy" shoot - they look kind of Bondish.......

 sybil01.jpg   73.3KB   38 downloads

 sybil02.jpg   91.91KB   34 downloads

[zencat]

Those look like they were done a little later, cat...possibly when she was up for the part of Stacey Sutton?

[Athena007]

Heeh ee, ya those deffinarly look more mid to late 80s. Gotta love the hair!

[Donovan]

The character/story of "Octopussy" changed a bit over time as well. One early draft supposedly had "Octopussy" as more of a villainess (like Elektra King) and she lured Bond to a meeting with the promise of having information about who killed his wife (remember, it was Irma Bunt who pulled the trigger, not Blofeld as was the case in the book). Octopussy's ethnic heritage was also described as being half-English (father was Major Dexter Smythe) and half-Indian.

Regarding original casting, I have read about certain Bond casting as follows:

We know Jan Werich was originally cast as Blofeld in YOLT. The belief for many years was this was due to illness. The reality was it was believed he looked too nice (Gilbert said like "Father Christmas") and he was replaced by menacing Donald Pleasence.

I've read somewhere that Mie Hama and Akiko Wakobayshi were originally cast in each other's roles but switched because Mie couldn't get the English down and the part of Aki was bigger with more dialogue.

Jill St. John was originally considered for Plenty O'Toole and Raquel Welch was to be Tiffany Case with John Gavin as Bond. When Connery was lured back, it was decided Welch and Connery wouldn't have the right chemistry and St. John was promoted to the role of Tiffany. Welch was strongly considered for the part of Domino in "Thunderball".

Character-wise, Tom Mankiewicz wanted Solitaire to be black and Rosie Carver to be white.

James Mason supposedly turned down the role of Hugo Drax.

David Bowie supposedly turned down the role of Max Zorin (saying he didn't think the Bond villains of late were strong characters).

I guess the Anthony Hopkins as Trevelyan is an obvious one. Although if he was indeed offered the role it was during the earliest days of pre-production when the character Augustus Trevelyan was Bond's former boss in the Secret Service.

Non-Bond: I know Lawrence Fishburn turned down the role of Zeus in "Die Hard III" because he wanted equal billing with Bruce Willis.

Another Non-Bond: Edward James Olmos desperately wanted to play Kruge in "Star Trek III" but Nimoy wanted someone taller and went with Christopher Lloyd. God knows there's a ton of "Star Trek" almost-casts.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Those look like they were done a little later, cat...possibly when she was up for the part of Stacey Sutton?

Heeh ee, ya those deffinarly look more mid to late 80s. Gotta love the hair!

LOL!

Hey, what's 5 years or so in the life of a wanna-be Bond girl?

[doublenoughtspy]

Perhaps there should be a separate forum area for Casting - it certainly comes up enough.

I think there are important distinctions though.

Almost starred is one category - something like Gavin as Bond in 1971 and Brosnan as Bond in 1986 are two good examples of this. They were talked to, screen tested, and SIGNED to play the role. Then things fell through.

Next comes the "considered for" category - James Brolin, Sam Neill, Finlay Light, Lambert Wilson, and the other candidates tested with Lazenby fall under this title. They were talked to, screen tested, and became finalists.

Then you have the "pursued" category - James Mason, David Bowie, Anthony Hopkins fall under this category. The characters were written with these actors in mind - but the actors turned down the opportunity and the parts were re-written. For instance - very early drafts of AVTAK refer to the villain as Bowie, and early drafts of Goldeneye portray Treveyln as much older to suit a Hopkins portrayal.

Next you have a "talked to" category - Sela Ward for Paris in TND, Adam West as Bond, Timothy Dalton as Bond pre-1986, Burt Reynolds as Bond, McGoohan as Bond, etc. Informal discussion with a director or producer takes place, and nothing comes of it. The famous Timothy Dalton for OHMSS or DAF is the best example. This story constantly changes - and while a short discussion with Broccoli may have taken place - he did NOT talk with Saltzman or Peter Hunt or have the OK from United Artists. So to say Dalton was almost Bond in OHMSS is stretching the truth a great deal.

Next you have the "Short List" category, where there are a small number of people under consideration, and for whatever reason they aren't even talked to because the casting process stops before they've gotten to a name. Roger Moore as Bond in 1961 is the best example of this. Everyone agrees he was on the short list - but was he talked to or screen tested? No. Don't even get me started on the Saint thing - Broccoli claims Ian Fleming suggested Roger Moore and Broccoli said they didn't want to cast him because he was too identified with the Saint. Completely false. The 1st episode of the Saint wasn't broadcast until after Dr No was completely finished (Principal photography on Dr No was finished March 62, film was completed & shown to Fleming & others in July 62. Press conference announcing Moore as the Saint was May of 62, with 1st episode airing October 4 1962.)

Next you have the "PR stunt" category, where a press release or rumor gets passed around so much that people start believing it and reporting it as fact. Ronald Reagan as Rick in Casablanca, Hugh Jackman as Bond are good examples of this. Reagan as Rick happened because as soon as Warner Brothers bought the rights to the play Casablanca, they sent out a press release announcing it, along with possible casting choices. Why was this done? It was part of the studio system. Actors that were under studio contract were constantly listed as possible stars in films that they had no chance in hades of starring in. This was done because it got their stable of contract stars publicity and news coverage. Jackman has admitted to starting the Bond casting rumor himself because he wants it.

So when someone says "so and so almost starred as X in blah blah blah" - I always take it with a grain of salt. Show me a script with their name, frame grabs from a screen test, or a signed contract - then I'll believe it.

Edited by doublenoughtspy, 02 December 2004 - 06:30 PM.

[Von Hammerstein]

I seem to remember from that famous Prevue magazine article that the story line had something to do with "Octopussy being the leader of her own criminal empire and joining forces with Bond to help avenge her father's death at the hands of SPECTRE." So it looked at the time that Blofeld and SPECTRE we're making a comeback. But that had been hinted at before. I remember when Roger Moore was doing a Merv Griffin show pre-shooting of TSWLM he told Merv that the plot involved "SPECTRE hijacking nuclear submarines." and of course that became Stromberg.