Why the New James Bond Needs to Be In His 30s
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The post Why the New James Bond Needs to Be In His 30s appeared first on Consequence.
Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are right. No, not about Daniel Craig’s era being a thought-out arc because, seriously, they backed into that one. (Unnecessarily, I might add.) But the longtime keepers of the James Bond flame are correct that an actor in his 30s is best for the role, when the inevitable recasting is announced.
It’s not about ageism or some revolt by boomers against Gen Z, either. It signals a new philosophy for a franchise adapting to making films today vs. the way many m2oons ago. More importantly, it underscores a firm understanding of the character. James Bond is a blunt instrument who wears his world-weariness like fashionable cufflinks. He’s not a plucky upstart but is, instead, a man with considerable experience under his belt. And more than a tad jaded about the world in which he inhabits. When looking at those parts of James Bond, along with his flaws, vices, and even chosen profession, there’s no way the series can ever cast a “younger” Bond.
Logistically, it makes sense that the producers planted their flag firmly in this territory. Getting an actor in their 30s means they are just young enough to commit to the franchise for at least 10 years. It also means they’re not too old to be eligible for social security at the end of their run. Plus, not for nothing, but it’s hard imagining actors in that age range signing up for something so physically demanding for a decade.
However, in the end, it all comes down to the character. There’s a reason Timothy Dalton turned down the role in the late 1960s but accepted it in the late ’80s; he knew he wasn’t ready to bring the necessary weight and authority to the part. Some reading this may laugh at the idea of a lead character in films like the Bond films, with pigeons doing double takes at bad guys popping like balloons, and an invisible car, requiring any sort of heft. But from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, all iterations of 007 never forget that he is, at his core, a solider.
Bond is traditionally a commander in the Royal Navy or a former member of SAS, a special forces unit in the British Army. This is a man whose business, starting at a young age, was death. The actor playing Bond must look like they know how to use a gun and not look silly while brandishing it. They need to look as competent flying a plane, a bus, a jet, or a tank as they do behind the wheel of a car.
Bond must look like a person with contacts worldwide who can truly adapt to any situation he’s in because, more than likely, he’s experienced worse on the battlefield or on a ship. The actor needs to not only convincingly order alcohol but look like someone who lives in the bottle. And finally, probably chief amongst all these requirements: The person portraying the next James Bond must look like a killer who is always one bad day away from retiring.
The books and several films show Bond as someone who is just over it. He’s over taking orders, over following specific protocols that endanger more lives than they save, and just over being surrounded by death. When Dalton’s Bond says, “Tell M what you want. If he fires me I’ll thank him for it,” in The Living Daylights, the words hit like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. And he never even raises his voice.
That’s a credit to Dalton being Dalton, which is, to say, being very dope, but also to the gravitas he brought to the character at age 40 that he knows he lacked in his mid-20s. Those words carry a different meaning coming from the mouth of someone who looks like life showed him several things he desperately wants to forget.
For all the glamour that comes with the cars, gadgets, tailored suits, and expense accounts, James Bond is a man beset by tragedy. Whether losing his parents early, watching his first love commit suicide, or seeing his first wife killed in front of him, this man is almost defined by loss. And, again, all of the killing. Sean Bean’s Alec Trevelyan said it best in Goldeneye: “I might as well ask you if all the vodka martinis silenced the screams of all the men you’ve killed. Or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women, for all the dead ones you failed to protect.”
Even during the Roger Moore era, one typically defined by one-liners and a pun every five seconds, the movies acknowledge his late wife on two occasions. Both times, the typical jovial Moore projects a serious demeanor showing that no matter how much time passes, there’s still a hole in this man’s heart.
And he knows there’s not enough liquor or women in the world that will ever fill it. The three actors who played Bond after Moore understood that, and each got their moment to put those emotions — or lack thereof — on display. Emoting the totality of these burdens and the toll of carrying them on one’s shoulders, even ones as broad as Bond’s, takes real life experience that only someone in a certain age bracket can apply.
With Broccoli and Wilson’s parameters in mind, let’s take an educated guest at who might be in the running — with Bond, as always, the more obscure name probably has the best chance at getting the gig, as Bond actors are typically lesser known so when the audience sees them, they only see “James Bond” and not the two other things from which the audience remembers them.
Henry Golding, Regé-Jean Page, Jamie Dornan, Jonathan Bailey, Jacob Anderson, Jamie Dornan, and Nicholas Hoult make the most sense at this moment, though notably missing from that list are three internet favorites: Idris Elba, Henry Cavill, and Tom Hardy. Elba just turned 50, Cavill (the runner-up to Craig years ago) is already Superman and Geralt, while Tom Hardy is not only approaching 50 but is Eddie Brock and Max Rockatansky. When it comes to big Hollywood franchises, Hardy and Cavill are already spoken for.
James Bond will return. We don’t know the “when,” and we still don’t know the “how” given No Time to Die’s ending, but we’re at least a little bit clearer on the “who.” And when you think about it, it makes all the sense in the world.
Why the New James Bond Needs to Be In His 30s
Marcus Shorter
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