CASTING: When they got it right.

In my web surfing of Eunice Gayson info, I stumbled across the fact that Tania Mallet was considered for the role of Tatiana Romanova. We certainly dodged a bullet there. 



The floor's open to any casting decisions that they thankfully avoided.

Angelina Jolie was rumoured for Vesper...glad they kept her away.

Not big on Eva Green either, but she's at least a little closer to resembling Vesper than Jolie. 

Not sure if Jolie was every seriously considered or just a rumour. And she's been rumoured for almost every Bond film since DAD - Jinx, Vesper, Camille, and now Bond 25.

Not quite the same league perhaps but David Bowie as Zorin. Say what you will but Walken makes VTAK worth watching. I suppose Bowie would've done the theme song as well.

Ah of course.. As Zorin is one of my favourite villains (that largely has to do with the fact Walken is playing him), you won't hear any arguments from me.

It goes without saying that casting Lee, Maxwell, Lewellyn, Wiseman, Shaw, Lenya and the other bedrocks of the series that they got it right at the beginning.
The best casting choice of the entire series was Pedro Amendariz who gives the performance of a lifetime in FRWL and is the most perfect realization of a Fleming character possible.

It would have been fascinating as was anything he ever did, but Bowie was concerned he'd be wasting time watching stunt doubles fall over a cliff time and time again instead of doing other artistic endeavors. His Zorin would likely have been more alienated and more mystic. I imagine his turn as Pilate in LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST being akin to his take on Zorin.

Theodore Bikel as Goldfinger
John Gavin as 007: Good underrated actor who had the presence and even the image but who would have been woefully wrong and really cast too far against type.
Burt Reynolds as 007. Great actor who also would have been completely miscast.

On the flipside:
The one who was offered out of being available and since Cubby was desperate in '68-AND who actually could have pulled it off? Adam West. I'm being dead serious. He had a dramatic quality which was never explored, he was vastly underrated as a actor, he had the experience and the presence on screen-AND if you look at the Wayne-Kitka evening on the town sequence of the Batman '66 feature film and look past the inherent satire-his posture in a tuxedo shows that IT COULD HAVE WORKED!

FieldsMan wrote:

In my web surfing of Eunice Gayson info, I stumbled across the fact that Tania Mallet was considered for the role of Tatiana Romanova. We certainly dodged a bullet there. 

I bet her nickname at acting school was Tania Two-By-Four.

Hugh Grant was apparently under consideration for Bond for the series' mid-90s return. He has matured into a fine actor (great turn in the Beeb's recent 'A Very English Scandal') but back then as he was embarking on his 'Oh, golly gosh' stereotypical English fop romcom phase ... umm, no.

Yeah, Brosnan was the only Bond of the 90s/00s.

Speaking of, I'm so glad they went with Hatcher and not Bellucci in TND, especially after seeing the latter's performance in SP.

Looking her age a little too much was my only real complaint about her in SP ... obviously if she'd been in TND, that wouldn't have been a problem.

Must admit I did like Bond 'offing' her husband, saving her life and then nailing her ... 'up to his old tricks', you might say.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Must admit I did like Bond 'offing' her husband, saving her life and then nailing her ... 'up to his old tricks', you might say.  

As do I, though not sure Craig sells it.

Lois Chiles was offered the role of Anya, wasn't she? Not sure she mastered acting in her native accent, so how'd she perform with a Russian accent is beyond me.

Monica Bellucci would have been a great Bond girl in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The problem was that they waited at least a decade too long to give her the role.



She was in a Bondian thriller with her then husband Vincent Cassel in 2004, called "Agents Secrets" and I think it gives us a glimpse of what Monica Bellucci as a Bond girl had she been cast at the right time might have looked like.

Jack Lord. One of many reasons Dr No is so good.

I only wish his Leiter was in a different film, as the character is pretty useless in DR. NO. As a result of his inclusion, Quarrel's role is noticeably reduced. I suspect Leiter was only added so that Bond could have a white ally to have exposition with, instead of only working with Quarrel.

Indeed Jack Lord is the best Leiter. Shame he'd only want to return if the films became The Adventures of Bond and Leiter.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I suspect Leiter was only added so that Bond could have a white ally to have exposition with, instead of only working with Quarrel.

That's paranoia. Leiter was there to appeal to American audiences, sure, but the scenes between Bond, Quarrel and Leiter are terrific as even this poor-quality clip shows.

Like I said, I wish he had been in a different film. He's merely part of what slows the film down when it should be progressing faster towards Crab Key.

Hmmm, I'm due another watch. I'll see if I can get what you're saying.

I've recently revisited both the book and film, and it really hit me how much the stuff added onto the film dragged things. Even though I like "you've had your six", all the build up with Miss Taro feels like a waste of time. By the time they get to Crab Key the film moves much better. Not that I feel the adaptation should have been strict. The added stuff like Bond's introduction in the casino along with Trench in his flat is perfect as it is.