46 replies to this topic

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I checked the threads and I didn't see any similar type of thread.

Who among the Bond series was miscast in their role? If so, who would be better for that role?

Ex: Denise Richards was miscast as Christmas Jones. I don't know who would be better suited for that role, but it shouldn't have been Richards.

[The Shark]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

[jaguar007]

My #1 pick would be Denise Richards as well with Tanya Roberts right behind her.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Julian Fellowes as Defense Minister in Tomorrow Never Dies. It's not so much that he did a bad job, it's just that the character is so two-dimensional for such a good actor.

[danslittlefinger]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

Oh and some of the Bond girls, but their talent for acting, or lack thereof, probably wasn't a prequisite anyway.
Definitely Denise Richards.

[plankattack]

My #1 pick would be Denise Richards as well with Tanya Roberts right behind her.

Agree with both - the Bond girls have had their share of misses.

I'm going to go with Louis Jordan from OP. I could see what he was getting at - smarmy, slimey, aging lounge-lizard, but he never quite seemed menacing enough. I know that Stephen Berkowitz is always a bit OTT, but would have loved to have seen him given a bit more screen-time in that film to chew the scenery in his completely manic way. His confrontation with Sir Rog on the train is right up there when it comes to Bond-Villain "here is my plan" moments.

Also, and I know I'm probably going to be in the minority here - Donald Pleasance as Blofeld. Forget all the Austin Powers stuff - he just seemed too, well, "weedy." Savalas was far more believable as Bond's nemesis.

[Rufus Ffolkes]

George Lazenby as Bond - it's not a terrible performance, but his lack of experience really shows.

Telly Savalas as Blofeld - he has a good physical presence, but he's much better suited to a New York tough guy than a smooth, central European villain.

Jimmy Dean as Willard Whyte - there was potential in a mysterious, Howard Hughes-esque character, but Dean's cornpone performance turned it all into a joke.

Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock - there are certainly worse Bond girls, but she always struck me as very grim and humourless, and she was far too young a leading lady for a then-aging Roger Moore.

Tanya Roberts as Stacy Sutton - ties for worst Bond girl in my view. I've seen better performances in high school productions.

Christopher Walken as Max Zorin - I love Walken, but he seems out of place and uncomfortable in this role. I actually think original choice David Bowie would have been much more interesting.

Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker - Baker can be an intimidating screen presence, but he plays Whitaker as a buffoon more than a real threat.

Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier - again, not the worst bond girl out there, but as a tough as nails CIA-trained pilot - I don't think so.

Denise Richards as Christmas Jones - tied with Tanya Roberts for worst Bond girl. The ex Mrs. Charlie Sheen as a nuclear physicist. Yeah, right.

Robert Carlyle as Renard - to be fair, the character is something of a dud, but Carlyle doesn't bring anywhere near the sense of menace or danger that he brought to Trainspotting.

Halle Berry as Jinx - see Carey Lowell.

And every Felix Leiter aside from Jack Lord and possibly Jeffrey Wright. Especially David Hedison in Licence to Kill. After finally getting a younger Bond in Dalton, why they cast a 60 year old Hedison opposite him is beyond me. And his line delivery of "I'll see you in hell!" always makes me cringe.

Edited by Rufus Ffolkes, 12 February 2010 - 07:04 PM.

[danslittlefinger]

Great list Rufus. Agree with every one.

[General G.]

Ex: Denise Richards was miscast as Christmas Jones. I don't know who would be better suited for that role, but it shouldn't have been Richards.

Lucy Lawless (of Xena fame).

Also: I agree with the post above about Joe Don Baker in TLD. I think Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Hard Target) would've made a far superior Whitaker.

[AMC Hornet]

Tanya Roberts tops this list for me every time. I'd believe Denise Richards as a nuclear physcist over her any day. What was so demanding about playing a geologist? She certainly appeared to have enough rocks in her head for the role. To be fair, though, she was marvellous on That 70's Show - as you can't be that dumb and play that dumb, she obviously has talent. The fault may lay with John Glen, who left the acting to the actors while he directed traffic....

Apart from her, Christopher Walken was either miscast or not given enough to do as Zorin. There was too much talk about his character, and not enough exposition. (M: "He speaks at least five languages with no accent." Zorin: "Moah! Moah Powah!")I agree that David Bowie would have been more exotic right out of the gate.

Roger Moore was also miscast as 007 in AVTAK. After sailing off into the sunset with Octopussy in what would have been his swan song, he came back no longer convincing in his own franchise. However old the lead actor gets, Bond should never look like he's well into his fifties.

Elsewhere:

John Terry as the one Felix Leiter I tend to forget when listing them all (Mr. Bond meets Mr. Bland). I don't know whether more screen time would have been an improvement or a detriment (probably the latter, as there must have been more footage that - like the Casbah chase - was judiciously left out).

I wouldn't say that Yaphet Kotto was miscast per se [attention Americans: if you're going to use latin phrases, take the trouble to spell them correctly], as he made a very formidable Mr. Big/Kananga, but as he got older (and bigger) he came to look more the part. Still, the way the movie was written, it would not have done for Roger Moore - the third whitest man in the world (after Steve Martin and myself) to be seen whaling on an aging, overweight black man.

Again, I wouldn't say that Michel (Michael) Lonsdale was miscast as Drax, but like Zorin and Stromberg he had little to do. I would have preferred to have seen him made up the way Fleming described, with burn scars and vulgar manners. He and Curt Jurgens might just as well have had signs hanging around their necks with the word 'villain' flashing on and off in red neon.

Sorry, Julian Glover, but FYEO needed a villain. If Lewis Gilbert had been directing, he might have cast Jan Werich instead.

Klaus Maria Brandaur, for all his talent and understated menace, was cast too much against the character of Largo. He looked like a smug, spoiled little boy who knew someone else's dirty secret. He didn't need to be harpooned, just boxed about the ears until he apologized and promised never to steal nuclear weapons from NATO again.

Dominic Greene & Elvis: What's with these wimpy villains? Connery never had a chance to get his hands around Donald Pleasance's scrawny neck, which is just as well (see reference to LALD above). Zorin and Carver also fit this category, but give them a pistol or a fire axe and suddenly they're Conan the Barbarian. Did anyone believe that when Green came shrieking at Daniel Craig (who'd made such short work of Obanna, Slate and various other goons), that Bond was in any real danger? Matthieu Amalric plays creepy very well, but he's no Kananga. Bond couldn't even be bothered to kill him himself - he just squeezed him gently until he bleated everything he knew about Quantum, then left him for Mr. White (presumably) to finish off. If he and Le Chiffre are the best Quantum has to offer, then the Quantum series may well only be a trilogy.

With this in mind, I hope Bond dispatches White with a simple bullet, a la Stromberg. To watch Craig pummel the old goon into pulp would be as embarrasing as watching Moore stomp on a bloated old capitalist like Stromberg.

Overall, I think most roles were well cast, or the roles rewritten judiciously. I can identify with George Lazenby (who's to say than any of us wannabes could do any better, or last any longer?) and won't say a word against him. Remember that an actor is required to deliver what the director demands, based on the vision he gets from the script. By the same token, I think Geoge Clooney gives himself and Arnold Schwartzenegger too much credit for the failure of Batman And Robin - they didn't write or direct it.

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

Especially David Hedison in Licence to Kill. After finally getting a younger Bond in Dalton, why they cast a 60 year old Hedison opposite him is beyond me. And his line delivery of "I'll see you in hell!" always makes me cringe.

I didn't object to Hedison in LALD, and given his age in LTK, I do think he did a good job. But of all the actors out there who could have done it against the new tougher Dalton Bond (as it was back then) - why Hedison indeed.




I agree totally about Denise Richards.



Jonathan Pryce - good, but someone else could have been better.

Sean Bean - worked well as a villain, but unconvincing as a former British agent.

Tania Mallett in GF - good job it was a small part.

Pushkin's Minder in TLD - he looks about as Russian as a London market trader.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Jimmy Dean as Willard Whyte - there was potential in a mysterious, Howard Hughes-esque character, but Dean's cornpone performance turned it all into a joke.

Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock - there are certainly worse Bond girls, but she always struck me as very grim and humourless, and she was far too young a leading lady for a then-aging Roger Moore.

I've always liked Dean as cowboy millionaire Whyte. I think Miss Bouquet was fine as Melina however I do agree that she was way too young to appear as Moore's love interest. That's another reason I think Timothy Dalton should've done FYEO. A dark, brooding leading lady would've complemented a dark, brooding Bond like Dalton.

Tanya Roberts as Stacy Sutton - ties for worst Bond girl in my view. I've seen better performances in high school productions.

At the very least, have her character scream a little less. Maybe she and Priscilla Barnes(Della from LTK) should've switched roles.

Denise Richards as Christmas Jones - tied with Tanya Roberts for worst Bond girl. The ex Mrs. Charlie Sheen as a nuclear physicist. Yeah, right.

In retrospect, Mrs. Sheen was born 28 years too late. She would've been perfectly cast as Plenty O'Toole if Lana Wood wasn't available.

Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier - again, not the worst bond girl out there, but as a tough as nails CIA-trained pilot - I don't think so.

Halle Berry as Jinx - see Carey Lowell.

Exactly right in both cases. Also, both of them should've lost the little boy haircuts and let their hair grow out. I like Bond girls with long tresses like Naomi, Nancy, Solitaire, Solange, etc.

Roger Moore was also miscast as 007 in AVTAK. After sailing off into the sunset with Octopussy in what would have been his swan song, he came back no longer convincing in his own franchise. However old the lead actor gets, Bond should never look like he's well into his fifties.

Exactly. Moore clearly went for one film too many. In fairness, I would not have wanted either Dalton or Brosnan to have debuted in AVTAK, at least not without a massive script rewrite prior to shooting.

Sorry, Julian Glover, but FYEO needed a villain. If Lewis Gilbert had been directing, he might have cast Jan Werich instead.

I agree that Kristatos is a pretty bland villain but that may have been more the fault of the script than the actor. Glover did better as the villain in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 8 years later.

I didn't object to Hedison in LALD, and given his age in LTK, I do think he did a good job. But of all the actors out there who could have done it against the new tougher Dalton Bond (as it was back then) - why Hedison indeed.

Hedison made a terrific Leiter(along with Jack Lord, they are the series top 2 Felix Leiters IMHO) but in retrospect it's too bad that EON didn't put him in more of Roger Moore's films since Hedison and Moore are good friends. Then when Dalton came along, cast a new Leiter(my choice would've been Lee Horsley of "Matt Houston" fame.)

I don't know if this would be a case of necessarily miscasting as much as miswriting but Charles Gray as Blofeld in DAF. I actually do enjoy his witty, urbane George Sanders-like take as a Bond villain but DAF's Blofeld seems to bear no resemblance(character-wise, as well as physically) to earlier Blofelds. Perhaps they should have renamed his character.

[Lachesis]

The entire cast of NSNA except Barbara Carerra (ok its just cus I fancy her rotten)

Denise Richards is the very definition of miscasting - It is one of those moments you really needed to be a fly on the wall...I mean what order was that done in...was it 'hmm we need an actress who can play a nuclear Physicist...I know Denise Richrds..WHAT!!' or was it 'Yeah we cast Denise Richards as the next Bond girl, now we need to define her role....how about a Nuclear Physicist? WHAT!'

Anyways more misfires imo

Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene - Bond Vs Roman Polanski doesn't work for me sorry)...infact all the bland and ineffectual villians of QoS in fact

Tanya Roberts, Carole Bouquet, Maud Addams, Britt Eckland these weren't so much miscast as just simply Awful.

Joe Don Baker I can accept mainly because I can always hear Mike and the bots from MST3K taking the rip whenever he's onscreen.

Edited by Lachesis, 12 February 2010 - 10:44 PM.

[plankattack]

Denise Richards is the very definition of miscasting - It is one of those moments you really needed to be a fly on the wall...I mean what order was that done in...was it 'hmm we need an actress who can play a nuclear Physicist...I know Denise Richrds..WHAT!!' or was it 'Yeah we cast Denise Richards as the next Bond girl, now we need to define her role....how about a Nuclear Physicist? WHAT!'

Lach - you're not too far from the reality here! I remember reading around the time of TWINE that MGM/UA really wanted to make sure Bond appealed to the "youth" market. Apparently they'd been high on the idea of Bond snowboarding instead of skiing, and had been keen on getting Richards in there after the "success" of Wild Things. (I admit I myself derived much "success" from watching Wild Things....).

So yeah, I can see it all transpiring just as you speculated!!!!!!!!!!

[bondrules]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

Fully agree.

On a lesser extent, I'll throw in 3 Bond girls.

Denise Richards, Maryam D'Abo & Halle Berry. HORRIBLE performances.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

I thought Brosnan played Remington Steele playing Roger Moore playing James Bond in his 007 films.

[RufusCobb]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

Okay, if you can have him ... I'll have Daniel Craig as James Bond.

And any of the villains from his era. They are as scary as Sunday school teachers. And what's with Dominic Greene's "mad eyes". He should be in an advert for Optrex.

[bondrules]

Pierce Brosnan - James Bond.

He was great as Remington Steele though.

Okay, if you can have him ... I'll have Daniel Craig as James Bond.

And any of the villains from his era. They are as scary as Sunday school teachers. And what's with Dominic Greene's "mad eyes". He should be in an advert for Optrex.

The mad eyes were not acting. That's the way Amalric is in real life.

[tdalton]

I'll agree with a few other posters in this thread and say:

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.


Other miscasts:

Denise Richards as Christmas Jones
Halle Berry as Jinx
Charles Gray as Blofeld
Donald Pleasance as Blofeld
Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight
Sophie Marceau as Elektra King
Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves
Teri Hatcher as Paris Carver

[Double-Oh Agent]

Denise Richards is the very definition of miscasting - It is one of those moments you really needed to be a fly on the wall...I mean what order was that done in...was it 'hmm we need an actress who can play a nuclear Physicist...I know Denise Richrds..WHAT!!' or was it 'Yeah we cast Denise Richards as the next Bond girl, now we need to define her role....how about a Nuclear Physicist? WHAT!'

Lach - you're not too far from the reality here! I remember reading around the time of TWINE that MGM/UA really wanted to make sure Bond appealed to the "youth" market. Apparently they'd been high on the idea of Bond snowboarding instead of skiing, and had been keen on getting Richards in there after the "success" of Wild Things. (I admit I myself derived much "success" from watching Wild Things....).

So yeah, I can see it all transpiring just as you speculated!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, MGM/UA were really keen on appealing to the youth market back then regardless of how it impacted the quality of the film. From my understanding they insisted on EON either having Bond snowboard or their hiring a hot young American star such as Denise Richards (if not actually Richards) as the main Bond girl. EON obviously went with the Richards route. In retrospect, they should have gone the snowboarding route. Yes, Bond is a skier at his core, but is it really all that unthinkable that he would snowboard? After all he basically did it in the PTS of A View To A Kill. I think that would have worked much better than Richards as a nuclear physicist turned out. Someone like Charlize Theron, Ashley Judd, or Diane Lane would have been a better choice for the role of Dr. Christmas Jones.

[Joyce Carrington]

I'm a big defender of Christmas Jones, the character, but yeah, obviously, if they had gotten someone else instead of Richards, someone a little more tough and a little less Barbie doll, that would have been soooo much better.

Same thing goes for Stacey Sutton - although I like that character less.

[Lachesis]

Perhaps someone at the TWINE script conference had a weird Russian accent and the others were having fun making him say 'Nuclear' a lot and then forgot the actress it was going to be till too late...."Man were we wasted at that conference or what, hey remember Sergei ahahhha....oh wait, you posted the script - what have we done Noooooooo!"

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Sophie Marceau as Elektra King

Now, I'll go to bat for her, because I think that she did a decent job with her character. I feel like her villain was a little more believable than crazed media mogul or evil drug dealer. She's a good actress and she did a good job playing the villain.

[Turn]

I'm surprised by a couple of things. First that Walken's Zorin is getting reappraised. I think maybe because of his reputation for playing weird, creepy villains his Zorin has become mixed in with all the other nutters he's played.

He was the best thing about the film then, and I'd say now, IMO. I can see Cubby and MGW looking at his performance in Annie Hall alone and saying that's the guy, although I'm sure The Dead Zone probably clinched it.

I will admit I think David Bowie would have been an intruiging choice. I understand Rutger Hauer was also considered for Zorin. He'd have been good too, but at the time he had a reputation as a villain in films, so it may not have come off as interesting as Bowie or Walken.

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Although they weren't complete beauties, looking back I could have seen Laura San Giacomo or Annabella Sciorra as at least making an effort in the role. Then again, when have these films ever been about acting?

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Yeah I had forgotten about her. But that's the thing about poor casting, you don't always remember the unmemorable!

[jaguar007]

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. I think Talisa Soto made a much better bimbo girlfriend of a drug lord than Roberts or Richards made being a Geologist or Nuclear Physicist

[bondrules]

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. I think Talisa Soto made a much better bimbo girlfriend of a drug lord than Roberts or Richards made being a Geologist or Nuclear Physicist

I agree. She wasn't as bad as many others mentioned on this thread. In fact it's the first time I see her being bashed for her performance.

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. I think Talisa Soto made a much better bimbo girlfriend of a drug lord than Roberts or Richards made being a Geologist or Nuclear Physicist

I agree. She wasn't as bad as many others mentioned on this thread. In fact it's the first time I see her being bashed for her performance.

I wouldn't say she is worse than Richards that's for sure (who gets the Bond girl Razzie award no contest IMO). Soto looks the part without a doubt, but acting wise there is not enough conviction in her performance for me.

[bondrules]

As far as miscastings, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Talisa Soto of LTK. She makes Tanya Roberts and Denise Richards look like Meryl Streep. This is supposed to be the woman who almost led Sanchez to his downfall?

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. I think Talisa Soto made a much better bimbo girlfriend of a drug lord than Roberts or Richards made being a Geologist or Nuclear Physicist

I agree. She wasn't as bad as many others mentioned on this thread. In fact it's the first time I see her being bashed for her performance.

I wouldn't say she is worse than Richards that's for sure (who gets the Bond girl Razzie award no contest IMO). Soto looks the part without a doubt, but acting wise there is not enough conviction in her performance for me.

I agree. She is not a great actress by any means. Her performance was mediocre at best. But what Richards showed us was so abominable that a mediocre performance gets one off the worst-of list.

[O.H.M.S.S.]

Donald Pleasence as Blofeld.
Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi were pretty bad too.
Judi Dench, well she did perform good, but I prefer a male M.
Denise Richards.
Toby Stephens.