If only Jon Hamm were British…
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When Yul Brynner can play Pancho Villa and Alec Guinness and Anthony Quinn Arab leaders in Lawrence of Arabian…
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I love the Raffles-like premise of ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ - and the fact it’s not trying to adapt that character but doing its own thing.
We’re treating this as if it were set in stone - but actually it never was. When Fleming was trying to get a deal on a Bond film in the days of the Thunderball script/novel there apparently were no qualms whatsoever about nationality, once Hitchcock’s name was dropped. Everybody seemed fine with James Stewart possibly taking the part, provided he could fake the accent. And Cary Grant would have been no problem at all, even though few people were aware he was born in Britain.
Consequently, whenever the series was in trouble they regularly cast a wide net. Having an Australian or an Irishman in the part, based on the flimsy concept that they are ‘from the Commonwealth’ but refusing American actors seems odd. Few people on the street would even be able to explain the Commonwealth or how it affects their lives. They didn’t screentest James Brolin for nothing after all.
Of course, that was in the dark ages of the last millennium. The emphasis on Bond being British and depicted by a Briton has been played up since. But I wouldn’t much care as long as the actor does a decent job.
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Hamm is maybe too old (like Elba, unfortunately).
But I agree: if a good actor can play British, why not? The brilliant Andrew Garfield has played Americans so convincingly many were surprised that he in fact is British.
However, it would open Pandora‘s box and get lots of hate from the British press and film industry.
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I can understand the sentiment from the industry’s point of view. Bond being a big budget Hollywood production made by and with the British film industry has become THE showcase for UK talent; rightfully so. And no doubt that would have been a bone of contention with John Gavin or James Brolin, too.
The difference is, back then at least the musings of the British rags wouldn’t have mattered to most people. They hadn’t yet reached their full potential to foaming malice and whipping up hate riots the way they would. Some might even have been sympathetic to the argument that having a lead actor from the US doesn’t render the concept itself void.
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Here’s my completely random, probably doesn’t really mean anything Bond 26 trivia for the day…
The time between a new Bond’s first movie and the next new Bond’s first movie:
Connery to Lazenby - 7 years
Lazenby to Moore - 4 years
Moore to Dalton - 14 years
Dalton to Brosnan - 8 years
Brosnan to Craig - 11 years
Craig to ??? - 20+ years
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Ugh! 
Nice stat. 
That’s another nail driving the point home that things have really slowed down with EON this century. With 20+ years between the start of films, you’d think Daniel Craig would have done eight to 10 Bond films instead of only five. Looking at your stats, it should have been more like 11-14 years between Craig and Bond #7.
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So cruel of Eon to make MGM go bankrupt 3 times and unleash Covid.
Do they not care about the fans!!?!?!
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Is it perhaps part of the award strategy to dump on Bond?
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The way he jokingly refers to his arrogant former self makes me think what a joy it must have been to work with him.
I understand the weight of the obligation for any actor being tied to a major franchise role, especially if these actors actually prefer to do character work.
But the flippant way in which he repeats the often mentioned anecdote of him asking BB after CR how many of these (films) he has to do and whether he can kill Bond off in the last one irks me.
Really, if you don’t want to do this work why bother at all?
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Eh… for the loads of money?
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Of course. And I don’t blame him for choosing the money which set him up for life.
I would have preferred him to not be so eager to kill Bond off, though.
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Moore and Dalton are the only ones who have always remained very enthusiastic and sympathetic towards the Bond series, and so did Lazenby after a number of years.
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At that point, it was probably to piss off all of the people who were dragging him through the streets of the internet for having the audacity to be blonde.
He reportedly said it after CR became a huge hit with critics and audiences.
After he realized that he could still make loads of money with the legacy of one decades old movie under his belt.
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Why does the question keep getting asked? As much as I love my husband, there are certain questions I do not want to hear ever again. And he is my husband of more than two decades.
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I have no idea what “construct of masculinity” exactly means, or what he actually want to say with this.
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