Cavill would always seem to me that he’s playing a Bond-like spy in a Paul Fieg comedy rather than playing Bond himself. I can’t articulate why, that’s just how he comes across to me.
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Seriously, did Cavill even had a clue what role he was auditioning for?
Worthington: unbearable in looks, accent and general attitude.
Rupert Friend: quite okay, but no. At least, he seems to have taken it serious.
Anthony Starr: he still can’t believe that he’s testing for James Bond and tries his best, but does way too much “face carnival”. And his mouth is too big (for me, that is).
Glad that none of those made it.
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And my first thought when I watched those - if I’m going up for a part that big, I’m going to at least take the time to get a haircut and shave.
George Lazenby borrowing suits and knocking down doors to win the part this was not.
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This. I’m repelled by the way some of these guys go to a job interview that could make them rich and famous for the rest of their lives.
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Totally, utterly bizarre. Friend at least dug out a suit. And Starr looked generally halfway decent. But Cavill and Worthington are way out there. Most people at our discounter are dressed better. And all of them could be easily improved with a bit of style advice.
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I have to say that stripped of the glossy cinematography, costuming, makeup and sets, the dialog of the GE script is revealed as the cloddish drivel it is.
On the bright side, it gives me a new respect for Brozza making as much of it as he did.
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I had seen Cavill and Friend’s tests yesterday. I thought Cavill’s was terrible to the point that I honestly can’t wrap my head around how it was down to him and Craig in the end.
And with regards to Rupert Friend’s audition, although this will be somewhat biased given that I’ve been pounding the table for him to be Bond for a long time now, I thought it was decent. It’s not great, but it’s better than what I would have expected from a 23 year-old actor auditioning for a part that is, at the very least, a decade and a half too old for him. The hair is a problem, but I believe that this was around the time he was in a couple of films that required him to have the long hair. I at least feel as though I see enough there to justify my desire to see him take on the part. I think now, twenty years later, surely being a more confident actor and one that looks infinitely more the part now than he did then, Friend would be a terrific choice.
Haven’t had a chance to watch the others yet, but will at some point soon.
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Yes indeed, the winner is: Pierce Brosnan 
But, seriously: is this the kind and quality of material on which they based their decision about the next Bond? Speaks volumes…
Oh, the hair…?
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I will concede, Craig’s hair there does look considerably better than Friend’s in that screen test.
And, as we all know from the last time around, the hair is what matters most when judging a potential new Bond actor.
And I’ll also echo what everyone else has been saying about the material they chose to use to audition these actors. Hats off to Brosnan for making that scene work as well as it did. Take away the lavish set, the costumes, and all of that and just hearing the words read aloud, that was not great writing, to say the least. I have no idea why they didn’t have them do the standard audition scene from FRWL that they always seem to use. It’s a much better way to gauge how an actor will come across in the part.
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In fact I thought Friend - deliberately? unconsciously? - channeled Craig circa Our Friends in the North period…
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Before someone else does it…
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It’s especially puzzling given that they probably already had a good idea of how the CR script was shaping up or at least the vibe they were going for. Why test for a more serious, emotional Bond by having the applicants recreate a scene in “fatuous and glib” mode?
“Do we have a winner from those screen tests full of giddy double-entendres and cocky smirking? Great. Now give him this script where he’s cold and ruthless throughout and has his testicles repeatedly smashed before the grand finale where his love interest commits suicide.”
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It would be interesting to see the state the CR script was in when these actors were auditioning.
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Okay, dream yourself back into early 2005. While some people still claim that The Winner Pierce Brosnan will do a fifth Bond movie (even though your trusted website has confirmed he won’t), you get word that one of the people in this picture definitely will be the Next James Bond™.
1.: Holy Crap
2.: the second on the left definitely is dead last
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Sean and Roger made it look easy but it’s definitely not. As the leaked screen tests demonstrate, James Bond level charisma is either something you have or you don’t. None of those guys had it and I’m glad they’re probably aged out of contention.
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Totally agree here. Even if I was also a fan of Friend for the role I truly struggle to grasp what kind of thinking went into this group of contenders being the last few in serious consideration. This also shows what a mistake it is to test actors too young and inexperienced for the role, even if that’s what you’re looking for.
Of these Craig indeed had it easy. My only explanation is they wanted him from the go and just had to present him in the right pack of also-rans to get him past the money people. In that case they made it so blatantly obvious they’re lucky Sony didn’t insist on another round with their own favourites.
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I actually thought Henry Cavill and Rupert Friend were ok. Much better than the other two. But both were too young for 007.
As for how the actors’ appearances look, yes they don’t look like James Bond, but I’m sure that was because of other films they were in at the time. Going by their hairstyles, Cavill seems to have been filming the Middle Ages tale Tristan + Isolde and Friend looks like he was filming Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont. But as for how they (casually) dressed, yes, they could have–and should have–worn (as Friend at least did) a suit.
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Actors rarely cut their hair for an audition because most of the time they won’t get that part and maybe at the next audition they get told „oh, if you only had looked more like a polite viking…“
As for the scene used: it was probably during a time in which the CR script was not ready or EON did not want the script or even one scene exposed already.
As for the quality of that GE scene: yes, Brosnan does make it work due to his underrated acting ability and charisma. But in a closeup, with terrible lighting, being extremely nervous and fed lines by non-actors off camera, even the greatest actors will rarely look great.
Even the whole screentest for Craig was not especially fantastic.
But these casting sessions mainly serve one purpose: to get a sense of how actors respond to criticism, whether they are charming, whether they could seem agreeable to work with. The actual acting is important, sure. But in that moment less so.
Also: most of the time producers and studio executives already have made up their mind due to personal preferences before those auditions. Tapes are mostly important for less important roles.
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