45 replies to this topic

[The Shark]

Bob Peck. Would be a great choice.

[The Ghost Who Walks]

He's the kind of actor who deserves more recogniton.

And he sure has the "Bond look".



He would make a great Bond villain too. They could do something like they attempted, and partially succeeded at, with The Man With The Golden Gun, and create a character who is something of a dark reflection of Bond.

Wasn't Jason Isaacs about 23 back in 1986?

Probably, and I think that's too young for Bond personally.

[Stephen Spotswood]

The thing I can't believe is that at one point, I think when Roger Moore was holding out for more money, this guy was considered:

http://www.saint.org...-set-738481.jpg

It seems since this guy already lost the part to George Lazenby they could've reconsidered him:

http://www.brettish....ages/jbauto.jpg

I'm a little surprised this guy was never considered:

http://4.bp.blogspot...bfi-00m-hos.jpg

http://images.google...htt...sa=N&um=1

Edited by Stephen Spotswood, 26 September 2009 - 07:42 PM.

[elizabeth]

i think back in '86, my favorite actor robert redford could have done bond, and not just because he's my favorite actor. he has that bond quality about him.

[jaguar007]

The thing I can't believe is that at one point, I think when Roger Moore was holding out for more money, this guy was considered:

http://www.saint.org...-set-738481.jpg

I think Ogilvy was more considered by the press than by EON as I doubt they would have wanted to cast two former Saints. I remember reading an interview with Ogilvy back in 86 where he said that one thing is for certain, he WILL NOT be the next James Bond.

[Mr. Somerset]

My choice would be Ian Ogilvy. Long live The Saint!!!!!!!!!

I recall specifically in June of '86 Entertainment Tonight announcing that Australian actor, Finlay Light had the role. They displayed a photo of him and John Tesh joked that his name sounded like a beer commercial.
Anyone know anything about him?

[Tybre]

You sure his name was Finlay and not Finley?

[jaguar007]

I don't think Light ever existed. To this day not one person has ever been able to produce a single picture of Finlay Light. He has no IMBD entry, no webpage, no nothing...My guess is that Finlay Light was some made-up actor that Cubby used to scare Dalton and Brosnan into accepting whatever pay was being offered back in '86. Light is right up there with other great urban legends such as Bigfoot, The Abominable Snowman, and people who believed Elvis was still alive back in '87.

Gravity, I think you are taking this to an extreme. I think there is a much better chance of Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman and Elvis being alive than there is a chance of Finlay Light being a real person.

[jaguar007]

You sure his name was Finlay and not Finley?

Finlay, Finley, Finland...doesn't matter. The man does not exist.

I remember clearly, back in 86, it was Finlay, not Finley. Even back in 86 people were saying it was a made up name they threw out to the press just to get them off their backs. Can you imagine all the time reporters must have spent trying to figure out who this guy was, all before the day of the internet. Cubby must have had quite the chuckle.

[Trident]

...but I always wanted to see Jason Isaacs as Bond. He'd have been a great choice to replace Dalton in 1994...

So you wanted to see an actor who looked exactly like Timothy Dalton replace Timothy Dalton as 007? I can't tell you the number of times I've had to do a double-take when seeing Jason Isaacs and wondering if that was Dalton.

He looks particularly Dalton/LTK-like in that shot above. But apart from that I really feel he's an entirely different character that would have given Bond a whole new dynamic. He's much less 'serious' much more 'playful'. Isaacs would have given the series a different impulse at that time, one that would have opened other directions. Speculations of course, but that would really have been an alternate reality, entirely impossible to tell what it would have brought with it.

[Safari Suit]

I wouldn't be surprised if a Finlay Light exists. Less surprised than I would be by Bigfoot anyway.

[Tybre]

You sure his name was Finlay and not Finley?

Finlay, Finley, Finland...doesn't matter. The man does not exist.

Well IMDB have a Finley Light with one credit from 1978. No biographical details, so can't say if he's Australian, but if you average out the ages of the 6 actors when they first got the role, that comes out to be 37. So let's assume this Finlay/Finley/whatever bloke was 37 when he was up for consideration in 1986. That puts him three years younger than Dalton, who'd been acting since the sixties. Lazenby had a small role in 1965, otherwise no acting experience to speak of beyond commercials. IMDB lists this 1978 role as an episode of Case for the Defense. According to IMDB, Case for the Defense is an Australian show. He is listed as having played one Paul McKeller in a single episode. Could have been a major character, like the episode's criminal, or he could have been one of the random folk the police come and talk to to work out a case. Mind I've no idea what Case for the Defense is like, so I'm just lumping it as a fairly generic cop show, but you get the point. It is possible this Finley Light fellow did exist, was a model, and had a small role on an old Australian cop show that only lasted for one season according to IMDB.

In addition to IMDB listing a Finley Light, we have a page on catalogue.nla.gov.au regarding a book. The book's subject? One Finley Light. Only details about the book here on this page are as follows:

[Biographical cuttings on Finley Light, actor and model, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]

Biographical cuttings files contain cuttings, e.g. articles, obituaries, from Australian newspapers and journals from the early 20th century to 2000.

Model. Australian. One letter off from Finlay, which means it may have been a Tomorrow Never Dies/Tomorrow Never Lies-type scenario. Also, furthering the possibility of it having been a typo, the name Finlay is pronounced exactly the same as Finley, both of Irish origin. If Cubby had simply announced a "Finley Light" instead of sending out a memo, reporters may have spelled it Finlay instead of Finley.

If nothing else it's plausible.

[jaguar007]

He looks particularly Dalton/LTK-like in that shot above. But apart from that I really feel he's an entirely different character that would have given Bond a whole new dynamic. He's much less 'serious' much more 'playful'. Isaacs would have given the series a different impulse at that time, one that would have opened other directions. Speculations of course, but that would really have been an alternate reality, entirely impossible to tell what it would have brought with it.

I think Isaacs has the right look for Bond and he is a good actor, he could have made a credible Bond. However I don't think he would have gone over with the public as I don't think he has the "macho sexiness" that is required for the role.

[Binyamin]

My view of Isaacs is that he has the acting skill to become whatever character is needed. I believe he would have made a fantastic Bond.

Edited by Binyamin, 07 November 2009 - 10:28 PM.

[The Ghost Who Walks]

...but I always wanted to see Jason Isaacs as Bond. He'd have been a great choice to replace Dalton in 1994...

So you wanted to see an actor who looked exactly like Timothy Dalton replace Timothy Dalton as 007? I can't tell you the number of times I've had to do a double-take when seeing Jason Isaacs and wondering if that was Dalton.

I think he looks more like James Bond than he looks like Timothy Dalton.

I think Isaacs has the right look for Bond and he is a good actor, he could have made a credible Bond. However I don't think he would have gone over with the public as I don't think he has the "macho sexiness" that is required for the role.

That's a tricky one, but I don't think he would've been any less macho than, say, Moore or Brosnan, at least judging from many of his other performances (sadly, most people know him best for playing male drama queen Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter).

My view of Isaacs is that he has the acting skill to become whatever character is needed. I believe he would have made a fantastic Bond.

[Mr. Somerset]

You sure his name was Finlay and not Finley?

Finlay, Finley, Finland...doesn't matter. The man does not exist.

Well IMDB have a Finley Light with one credit from 1978. No biographical details, so can't say if he's Australian, but if you average out the ages of the 6 actors when they first got the role, that comes out to be 37. So let's assume this Finlay/Finley/whatever bloke was 37 when he was up for consideration in 1986. That puts him three years younger than Dalton, who'd been acting since the sixties. Lazenby had a small role in 1965, otherwise no acting experience to speak of beyond commercials. IMDB lists this 1978 role as an episode of Case for the Defense. According to IMDB, Case for the Defense is an Australian show. He is listed as having played one Paul McKeller in a single episode. Could have been a major character, like the episode's criminal, or he could have been one of the random folk the police come and talk to to work out a case. Mind I've no idea what Case for the Defense is like, so I'm just lumping it as a fairly generic cop show, but you get the point. It is possible this Finley Light fellow did exist, was a model, and had a small role on an old Australian cop show that only lasted for one season according to IMDB.

In addition to IMDB listing a Finley Light, we have a page on catalogue.nla.gov.au regarding a book. The book's subject? One Finley Light. Only details about the book here on this page are as follows:

[Biographical cuttings on Finley Light, actor and model, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]

Biographical cuttings files contain cuttings, e.g. articles, obituaries, from Australian newspapers and journals from the early 20th century to 2000.

Model. Australian. One letter off from Finlay, which means it may have been a Tomorrow Never Dies/Tomorrow Never Lies-type scenario. Also, furthering the possibility of it having been a typo, the name Finlay is pronounced exactly the same as Finley, both of Irish origin. If Cubby had simply announced a "Finley Light" instead of sending out a memo, reporters may have spelled it Finlay instead of Finley.

If nothing else it's plausible.

Interesting. The only thing I had ever heard was from that Entertainment Tonight clip, and a few later Bond film books mentioning him as a candidate. I believe he was said to have been a model. I'm now leaning towards the probability that he was a hoax.