With the news that the final round of screen tests were happening this weekend for one of the biggest roles in movies, James Bond, we can possibly expect to find out who gets the tuxedo pretty soon.
Before that announcement comes along and takes the wind out of the sails of speculation, we thought we would have a little fun via a swerve from our usual Bond On columns. After all, we are running out of movies!
The task ahead of you, dear Outposter, is simple. You are the casting director, and you can build your fantasy Bond cast.
Not just 007 himself, but the rest of the Bond family. Who do we mean? The group of regular characters that exist in his orbit and crop up as allies or support.
We mean Bond himself, but also his boss, stern head of the Secret Service – M. Alongside M at HQ there is reliable executive assistant Miss Moneypenny, and Chief of Staff Bill Tanner. Meanwhile, slaving away down in the basement is the gadget maestro, Q. Out in the field, longtime Bond ally Felix Leiter of the CIA often arrives to help out his cousin from across the Pond.
So who would you cast in these recurring roles in any upcoming 007 movies. The only rules are that you want them to be recurring characters, over a number of movies, and you have to say why.
To get started, and to perhaps provide some inspiration, or somebody to point and laugh at, Stark and Wrenage will tear themselves away from bickering over Bond movies like a couple of old women, and share their picks.
Stark
Bond: Henry Cavill
I don’t care that he may have aged out of this interpretation of Bond No actor has been so clearly perfect for the role for many years. At 43, he’s in better shape than many 30 year olds and he’s got the looks and the charm.
Watch interview with him on a chat show and see the women around him literally melt in his presence. Cavill not getting a chance at the role would be a cinematic travesty. Simply make it happen.
M: Peter Capaldi
Channeling his character of Malcolm Tucker from The Thick Of It, his grumpy, no nonsense irascibility plus some genuine warmth lurking just below the surface, as per his turn as Doctor Who, makes him trailer made for the role of M.
You could buy him as a high level political operator who also knows where the bodies are buried, and knows what is at stale every time he activates a 00-agent to sort some shit out.
Q: Danny Dyer
OK, go with me on this one. First up, we have never seen a working class Q before. The juxtaposition with the smooth, cultured Bond and their in-lab banter could be great fun.
Secondly, he is tremendous fun and the award-winning MVP of the bawdy bonkbuster Rivals. Go for something a little different. It will work.
Moneypenny: Jenna Coleman
Absolutely adorable, and genuinely believable as somebody who perhaps 007 himself would secretly hold a candle for, while also being able to convince as a highly effective aide to the man at the very top of the Secret Service.
Convincingly flirtatious, with enough of a twinkle in her eye to make the banter with Bond intriguing and seem like a real thing. See her turn in Doctor Who, including a great partnership with my pick as M.
Tanner: Benjamin Clementine
Absolutely owning his role as Nani in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen on Netflix, the role as the King’s Equerry in that show has echoes of what you need for Tanner.
A convincing, reliable Civil Servant who moves effortlessly through the corridors of power, never front and center but part of the power behind the throne. Clearly can play establishment upper class without breaking a sweat.
Leiter: Matthew McConaughey
A big swing, but the character was always described in the Fleming novels as a Texan, and a laconic old cow hand who could be straight off the ranch if duty to his country in the CIA hadn’t come calling.
Who knows, maybe a decent pay check for a few days work every three years in s00e far-flung, exotic locations could be tempting?
Wrenage
Bond
I am glad you took Henry Cavill because I didn’t want to sort out my feelings on Cavill as Bond. Short answer: I am okay with Cavill as Bond. Long answer: I am not entirely okay with Cavill as Bond.
Cavill is almost too Chad, if that’s possible — even more Chad than Dalton. Bond needs a chink in his armor. Connery could be a bit overconfident. Lazenby was simply Lazenby. Moore was goofy. Dalton was angry. Brosnan was prissy. Craig grew pretentious. Cavill seems…chink-less.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson was bandied about at one time. After seeing him in Bullet Train, that seemed workable. The only problem with Taylor-Johnson is he seems like someone who blows kisses to himself in the mirror.
I had a crazy dark horse candidate in mind at one time: Charlie Hunnam. If Amazon wanted to continue with a blond Bond, I thought Hunnam could pull it off after watching him in The Gentleman.
So, I’m going with my darkest dark horse candidate: Dan Stevens. Stevens could pull off a melding of Connery and Moore. He has a dangerous, psycho quality to him, sheathed in intelligence. Yet, he also has the ability to be flippant, as necessary.
M
I still consider Bernard Lee the definitive M. I’d like to capture that grandfatherly, Churchill manner, but no one precisely fits that bill nowadays.
I considered Bill Nighy and Charles Dance. In the end, I settled on Jared Harris. His turn in Chernobyl shows he could do a fine bureaucrat-type role to give Bond his mission.
Q
Again, it is tough to ever beat Desmon Llewelyn. Hugh Laurie or Hugh Grant might be fun, but they are perhaps too big for the part?
Let’s go with Stephen Merchant.
Moneypenny
Maybe Jodie Comer (28 Years Later)? Throw some glasses on her and call it a day. She just needs to banter with Bond a bit when he walks through her area and maybe look surprised when he throws his hat on the coat rack.
Tanner
Let’s bring back Johnny Miller! Hack the planet!
Leiter
Jeffrey Donovan.
So that is what the site’s self-appointed Bond aficionados think, but this is LMO, so their opinions are not as important as yours, our Outposters.
Have at it, you magnificent bastards!!
