an odd suggestion

Pendragon

So I was talking to my Aunt the other day, and she said she had to ask me a question, as it pertained to Bond. She asked me what I would think of Will Smith as Bond. I was shocked, and then told her that I didn't know how he'd do, but that I'd ask you guys. So...what do you think?

~Pen -{

7289

Will is an engaging actor, and has already stepped into some pretty big shoes by taking Charlton Heston's part in the "Omega Man" remake!!

Let's see how he does with that.

Somehow though a Black American as James Bond doesn't seem right. But maybe it's time for another reboot!!

After all who can forget "Blackula"!!!!!

PoorMansJB

Sorry, but Smith all but destroyed Wild Wild West; I generally have no trouble with reboots, but for James West to function as a secret service agent in a post-Civil War US, he has to be a white, male, and American (two out of three doesn't count).

By the same token (pun acknowledged), Bond has to be white, male, and British.

Moonraker 5

PoorMansJB wrote:

By the same token (pun acknowledged), Bond has to be white, male, and English.

An obvious flaw in that he's been played by a Scotsman, a Welshman, an Australian and an Irishman... At least two out of three are British.

Barbel

PoorMansJB wrote:

Bond has to be white, male, and English.

Well, that will come as news to most of the actors who have played him in the movies.

"English" is not a synonym for "British", which is what James Bond is. To be pedantic, he's Scots/Swiss.

Barbel

Moonraker 5 wrote:

An obvious flaw in that he's been played by a Scotsman, a Welshman, an Australian and an Irishman... At least two out of three are British.

M5, you're quicker on the draw than me- as usual!

Hardyboy

If Bond is to be played by an African-American, then I'd prefer Will Smith to Roger Moore's suggestion of Cuba "I've Forgotten How to Make a Good Movie" Gooding, Jr. But I'm happy with Bond being a white guy from the British Isles, and I think Craig has plenty of mileage left. I don't even want to think about a new actor!

darenhat

PoorMansJB wrote:

By the same token (pun acknowledged), Bond has to be white, male, and English.

Will Smith has got one out three, anyway. I'm sure we could find someone who can do better.

Jarvio

Will Smith as Bond? That's possibly the most horrible suggestion I've heard yet, just being honest.

Pendragon

lol thanks, guys. I'll pass along this feedback to my Aunt!

~Pen -{

Jarvio

It's not that I don't like Will Smith. It's just that, he is not Bond.

As someone else said, Bond must be a white, english male. And I mean no offence to non-white, non-english people, or women, but the fact remains, James Bond is a character, and a white english male one at that.

Pendragon

but as someone else pointed out, he's been played by a welsh guy, an aussie, an irish guy, and a scottish guy....I'm not saying that Wil as Bond is a good idea, but hey...

~Pen -{

youknowmyname

Jarvio wrote:

It's not that I don't like Will Smith. It's just that, he is not Bond.

As someone else said, Bond must be a white, english male. And I mean no offence to non-white, non-english people, or women, but the fact remains, James Bond is a character, and a white english male one at that.

I completely agree with you Jarvio. Will Smith as Bond? NO. NEVER. Uh, uh. Leave movies like I Am Legend to Willie and let him "get giggy" with his other blockbusters. He's just not Bond material, sorry Will, love ya in other films, but your just not Bond, James Bond.

Barbel

Jarvio wrote:

James Bond is a character, and a white english male one at that.

Perhaps some quotes from Our Founder may clarify matters.

Ian Fleming, OHMSS p69:
"My father was a Scot and my mother was Swiss... My father came from the Highlands, from near Glencoe."

Ian Fleming, YOLT p240:
"James Bond was born of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, from the Canton de Vaud."

Ian Fleming, TMWTGG p219 (slightly tidied up, since 007 was dictating a telegram at this point declining a knighthood after dispatching Scaramanga):
"I am a Scottish peasant and I will always feel at home being a Scottish peasant."

(All page numbers from Jonathan Cape first editions.) There are those who say that Fleming was influenced by the casting of Sean Connery and while that may well be the case it's totally within an author's rights to be influenced by anything he/she chooses. Bond's tastes in food, drink, clothes etc were influenced by Fleming's own, for example. Some of the characters are based on Fleming's friends or acquaintances; some of the plotlines (or the locations and journeys) come from Fleming's own experiences. An author picks out those elements to be used, and Ian Fleming picked Bond's ancestry.

Honey Rider

Is it true that P Diddy wants to be Bond? I think that, were Bond to be played by an African-American actor, he could be cool. That's assuming of course that the answer to my question is yes.

PoorMansJB

Moonraker 5 wrote:

An obvious flaw in that he's been played by a Scotsman, a Welshman, an Australian and an Irishman... At least two out of three are British.

What I was driving at was the likes of Smith would cause Bond to either sound like an American or force a fake accent; while folks in the UK can clearly discern a Scotsman from a Welshman, the rest of the world percieves them simply as ostensibly British (may bad for initially substituting English ... I do know the difference). In short, I prefer to see someone cast for whom "boot" and "bonnet" are first nature.

Slightly off-topic, but I kind of view Kate Winslet, Hugh Laurie, and all the others as a sort of revenge for decades of American actors using fake English (British ?) accents; the Yanks all sounded exactly like what they were--graduates of some MGM vocal coach--while the Brits can mimick obscure US regional dialects to a T.