So, Tom Hiddleston…
For me this perfectly encapsulates his unsuitability for the role… He for my taste has always had a nervous energy about him that comes across as needy. Not very Bondian IMO.
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Great fun! But I agree, Hiddleston is a much better Loki* than he’d ever be a Bond.
That aside, it’s also now hard to see Eon going in this direction after Craig has been given his second farewell with NO TIME TO DIE, which all points to the likelihood of another significant pause and reset after that. It would be a surprise if Hiddleston was called for Bond. Though he’d likely make an interesting support character or villain.
*Loki being probably the most intriguing, entertaining and multi-faceted of the Marvel characters.
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Definitely a Bond Villain. If you look at his performance in King Kong it’s an acting " heroic" performance, it’s a bit artificial whereas with Loki he is much more real in the way he moves the character.
Tom Cullen, Welsh actor
He’s very good in Knightfall , also memorable in 100 streets
Too soon.
The next actor will be chosen four years from now at the earliest.
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I agree. So many people choose an actor for now as opposed to when he would actually be needed. That’s why the Richard Maddens and Idris Elbas will not be cast. Such people do not seem to realise how long the gaps between entries are nowadays. The next Bond will not be cast until 2024/5 at the very least, with a release of perhaps 2026/7. Which means the Bond actor after him will not see his debut until around 2040, so anyone mentioned now won’t even get a second chance.
Tbh, that was true even when Eon were in a position to do them every two years. I can’t think of any rumoured name for Bond has ever actually got the job.
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I suppose Pierce is the most obvious, though that wasn’t so much a rumour as an actual offer.
Unless people watched Remington Steele and wanted him even before he was considered? As I understand it, Cubby met him on the set of FYEO in 1981, a year before Steele began airing, so perhaps he would have offered it to Brosnan anyway.
I gather he’d actually been cast when Remington Steele got a last minute save from cancellation. Does anyone who was alive then know if Brosnan had been rumoured before he was cast in The Living Daylights?
I don’t remember that - but since there was no internet around at that time, one had to rely on the snippets in magazines.
But according to many books on Bond Moore and Dalton were considered long before they were cast - and those in the know will have heard rumors about them.
As for the rumors two years ago about Hiddleston - I could very well believe that EON met with him and considered him. But since “The Night Manager” (which kind of was his biggest success outside Loki) he is not the next big thing anymore. Yes, he’s doing a lot of theatre. Yes, he’s doing the Disney-Loki-tv-show. Yes, he won’t have to worry about his next paychecks. But he is not “hot” in Hollywood anymore, and his “Kong”-starring role should have brought him many more high profile movies. The movie underperformed, unfortunately, and Hiddleston also had a very awkward moment during his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes at that time. Long story short: he won’t be on anybody’s casting list for Bond anymore.
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I seriously can’t remember. Lewis Collins was floated, James Brolin. I believe I even read Lee Horsley and Sam Neil being mentioned. But Brosnan I can not definitely say whether he was on the public radar before TLD…
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Holy crap, way to make me feel like a senior citizen! “Anyone who was alive then”?!!? Not only was I alive, I’m old enough that it still seems like recent history to me. 
Anyway, I remember a column by one of those “entertainment news” reporters (when that was a specialty, and not all of media) who claimed Brosnan was a shoe-in even as “A View To A Kill” was still in theaters. I want say maybe it was Liz Smith? I remember the article included a picture of Roger in the Eiffel Tower scene from AVTAK next to a picture of Brosnan as Steele and it hit HARD how old Roger looked. But I was totally on board with Brosnan taking over, as a fan of the show.
That said, I didn’t believe it for a minute because (1) it was a Hollywood gossip column and (2) I figured “Steele” still had a lot of gas left in the tank. But it was, to my memory, the first time I saw the press just assuming Roger was too old to continue, and it sticks with me because to my surprise I was as ready to move on as anyone.
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Welcome to the 90s-was-a-decade-ago club…
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Sorry.
In my defence, it’s only just that I’m too young for that (born in January of 90)
I should clarify that I still don’t believe Liz (or whoever it was) really had “insider knowledge” in 1985, nor do I believe Cubby was anywhere close to making a decision. But for me it was confirmation of what a lot of Americans (at least) were thinking and saying: “That guy should be the next Bond.”
Probably she just made it up to fill column space and meet a deadline. In that sense, things haven’t changed much.
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This.
After AVTAK there was really no escaping the truth about Moore’s age. And that was probably the moment the public started looking for a replacement in earnest.
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Who’s “hot” in Hollywood then ? By your criteria
From what I understand, Pierce’s role in Steele - in which in wore a suit for the most part - made audiences draw a comparison with Bond. Looking at the series now, he’s not the suave-to-the-point-of-stiffness (bearing in mind I’m a PIerce fan) as he would go on to be but, nonetheless, being British, dark-haired, good-looking and in a suit is often a recipe for speculation when it comes to Bond. I think Cubby would’ve remembered him more from their meeting, however, than from watching loads of Steele episodes, though he must have seen a couple to check out Pierce’s acting.
Although I maintain that Roger looked very good in FYEO and OP, something was seriously amiss with his appearence in AVTAK and he shouldn’t have made that film. Perhaps, though, in the testosterone-charged mid-80s cinema, Roger’s aristocratic for-Queen-and-country adventurer seemed charming?
Regarding Hiddleston - absolutely, his moment is over. The Night Manager was a hit, granted, but that seems like ages ago now. His relationship with Taylor Swift was viewed cynically by many as a way to raise his profile in America and thus snag him the Bond role. It was heavily rumoured that she wanted to keep their relationship private, whereas he wanted to keep it public. This, in turn, caused her to doubt his intentions and she eventually dumped him. His friends, however, claim that it was he who dumped her, and that he has trouble maintaining romantic relationships for longer than three months. A couple of songs from her new album - “False God” and “Afterglow” - are believed to be about him. I’m a Taylor fan, so I’m up on this stuff 
As already mentioned, his Golden Globes speech was widely ridiculed and his Hank Williams biopic - he bares a pretty good resemblance - was supposed to net him an Oscar nomination, as Joaquin Phoenix had for his Johnny Cash film. It was eventually considered to be such a poor film that it was screened “out of season”. Kong, meanwhile, was supposed to launch him as a top-liner in blockbusters but didn’t do well either.
By this point in his career, Hiddleston should have been looking beyond Loki. Certainly, if you’d asked him in mid-2016 where he would be five years hence - while the tabloids were chewing over his romance with Taylor and Daniel Craig looked like he was finished with Bond - he wouldn’t have said on television as Loki.
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