[Macros]

That's what we've saying the entire time. A British agent should be played by someone who is British or can carry the accent well (I really hate poorly attempted accents, Id rather actors went native than adopt a really shoddy accent)

[pathos]

Macros, on 15 November 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

That's what we've saying the entire time. A British agent should be played by someone who is British or can carry the accent well (I really hate poorly attempted accents, Id rather actors went native than adopt a really shoddy accent)

At least some people can pull off a fake english accent... No one has who has tried has pulled off a South African accent properly

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Not even di Caprio's Blood Diamond accent? As false accents go, I thought that was pretty good...

[pathos]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 15 November 2012 - 02:08 PM, said:

Not even di Caprio's Blood Diamond accent? As false accents go, I thought that was pretty good...

That was a Rhodesian(Zimbabwian) accent.. its different. (Its less Afrikaans)

Edit: It is a very good Rhodi accent though.

This post has been edited by pathos: 15 November 2012 - 02:11 PM

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Fair point. I can't really tell the difference (clearly). D:

[pathos]

Well then this wont bother you as much

[Cougar]

Far be it for me to derail this hilariously subjective thread, but I don't think Bond works as black at this particular juncture. I don't want to see him being racially abused during a mission to Poland, or refused access to the Golf Club, or indeed being repeatedly pulled over by the British Police for a random search because his car is too expensive.

Also, I think Elba, whilst great, is a little inelegant - too bulky. Bond is a very elegant character. I'd be interested in a movie where Elba was playing a secret agent though.

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

I can imagine very baggy, too-big suits coming into fashion after the release of the movie, which are worn with the trousers around the upper thighs so that your arse hangs out.

[Macros]

Really? That's where we're going now/

[Illuyankas]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 15 November 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

I can imagine very baggy, too-big suits coming into fashion after the release of the movie, which are worn with the trousers around the upper thighs so that your arse hangs out.

Oh yeah man, and what if he spoke in Ebonics?! Black people, am I right?

Get murdered.

[Abyss]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 15 November 2012 - 09:53 AM, said:

If we are going down this route, though, I think Djimon Hounsou should play Bond. That would be crazy.

That's even crazier than Samuel Jackson playing Nick Fury.

...hey, waitasec....


But intersting point to raise there... when writing the original ULTIMATES comic, Brian Hitch used popular actors as the templates for his characters. He went the obvious route and used Brad Pitt for Capt America and Leonardo Dicaprio as 'The Aviator' for Tony Stark, but then he went with Lucy Liu for the Wasp and, shocker, Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury.

The fans loved it. Jackson loved it. The main reason Jackson plays Fury in the Marvel movies today is because of that comic. The winning move wasn't making Fury black, it was making Jackson into Fury (as an aside, the Wasp-is-asian thing was gradually phased out).

Which would support an argument that if a good enough actor stepped into the role, it WOULD work.

I just don't see any studio have that level of cojones.

pathos, on 15 November 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

McLovin, on 15 November 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

That only qualifies you for Blofeld.

I'll take it.

But just to be clear, you still have to be holding a white furred cat.

Macros, on 15 November 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

That's what we've saying the entire time. A British agent should be played by someone who is British or can carry the accent well (I really hate poorly attempted accents, Id rather actors went native than adopt a really shoddy accent)

Bond has been played by Scottish, Irish and Welsh actors with varying degrees of accents so i assume when you say 'British' you don't mean 'English', in which case i agree, notwithstanding that iirc, Fleming made Bond part welsh, part swiss.

But that takes us back to my upthread post about what's essential and what can be left aside.
If Bond were 'American' would he still be Bond? Probably not tho Wikipedia tells me that apparently one early albeit unsuccessful effort at a Bond tv series tried exactly that.

[Macros]

There would need to be a pretty convincing story as to why the British secret services top agent was an American.

[Cougar]

I'd like to see Bond played by someone with a strong Belfast accent.

[Macros]

You do a pretty good fasty accent, but you're a pleb, no where near classy enough to pull it off.
if I bulked up a little on the other hand...

[Cougar]

I think, in all seriousness, there are two interrelated questions here: could Elba do bond and could a black guy do bond? I'd have to say no and yes respectively.

Elba couldn't, in my NSHO. The reason for this being I don't think he could pull off the things Bond needs to be. Bond must be British, but with an RP accent. I've no idea whether it comes across to North Americans, but Elba is well spoken, Southern English, but not what we'd call RP. RP can be accented with Scots, or Irish or Welsh as has been demonstrated by Connery, Brosnan and Dalton, but he can't sound too common. Second, you have to believe that Bond is quite posh, has come through the British public school system and has a certain upper middle-class insousance to him. Fundamentally, I don't feel Elba would pull that off. He could manage the action hero, SBS side of things that Bond has, but not the Oxford knot, champagne cocktail job.

None of those requirements exclude a black actor. I'm struggling to think of a black actor up to the job, but if anyone's ever seen Rugby pundity Jerremy 'Jezebel' Guscott, you'd know that there is nothing unreasonable about an elegant, public school type English black chap.

[Abyss]

Macros, on 15 November 2012 - 03:50 PM, said:

There would need to be a pretty convincing story as to why the British secret services top agent was an American.

hey it worked in STRIKEBACK.

[Macros]

I have no idea what strike back is.

I'm going to have to disagree with the gingerbread man, although I can see where he's coming from on the accent front I do think Elba could carry it quite well, maybe he could shift his accent a bit to please old cougar. Physically and characteristically I think he would have it down

[Abyss]

Macros, on 15 November 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

I have no idea what strike back is.
...

BBC/cinemax tv series about a British special forces team, one of whom is an American ex-CIA (played by an Australian actor). No real relevance to this discussion beyond the point that in tv/movies, anything can happen.

Great series tho, worth checking out.

[amphibian]

Cougar, on 15 November 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

Second, you have to believe that Bond is quite posh, has come through the British public school system and has a certain upper middle-class insousance to him. Fundamentally, I don't feel Elba would pull that off. He could manage the action hero, SBS side of things that Bond has, but not the Oxford knot, champagne cocktail job.

Have you seen Elba play Stringer Bell in The Wire? The "better dressed/acting than his background" thing is pulled off to a T there.

I have zero doubts, having seen a couple episodes of Luther and several movie roles of Elba's, that he could do it with no problems. It's just whether or not he gets the shot.

[McLovin]

He needs two shots to get 00 status.