I love!
I conquer
...like a
barbarians!!!!
Posted on 06/10/2026 1:06:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The recently knighted star has been linked to the role for a long time
Idris Elba has confirmed he will not be playing James Bond, saying that he felt some audiences wouldn’t “go for” a Black actor playing the role.
The award-winning actor, who has been the star of films including The Suicide Squad, Pacific Rim, and TV series The Wire, has been linked with the role for many years, with speculation building following the departure of Daniel Craig from the role in 2021. However, in a recent interview with British GQ, he discussed why he won’t be playing the part.
“I’ve always felt that it’s not a realistic thing,” he said. “James Bond was written how he was written for a reason. But I was complimented by it. And also, I think, in realistic terms, some markets just don’t go for that. Bond is big all over the world. And [audiences] won’t [all] go for a Black male, an African male, playing Bond. That’s not what they like in their culture. Period.”
Regarding whether 007 should change with the times, he remarked: “Bond is so unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let’s not try and make it woke. I think you’ve got to be pure to what it is: escapism. Don’t try and answer the world’s taste. Just be Bond.”
The search for the new James Bond officially began last month, as casting begins for a lead for Denis Villeneuve’s new vision of the world’s most famous spy. It will be the first film since Amazon MGM Studios took over the creative direction of the character, and recently former Bond actor Léa Seydoux said she was “sad” that the company was in control of the franchise.
As for who is in contention for the part, reports emerged last month that You actor Tom Francis was auditioning for the role.
“Elba is English. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan are not English”
Exactly.
Elba is far more English in mannerisms and accent than Connery ever was.
I love watching Connery films, but he is never not a Scottish lad, even when he plays a centuries old French immortal
The Bond in Fleming’s novels do not resemble Connery. They are kind of Daltonesque, and not quite Craig
“The problem would not be the Black Actor.
The problem would be the Woke bastardization of the rest of the movie. At every step they would feed the opportunity. It would be an absolute wreck”
Correct
“White shaft”
It would.
After all, isn’t the character basically a street smart private detective?
To my mind it was basically Dashiell Hammett Sam Spade but physically tougher
“Idris is a great actor, but he wasn’t right for Lupin,”
Idris didn’t act in lupin.
That was Omar Sy.
There are some, rare, cases where an actor of a different racecolats a character and it works, because
1. His race is not made the center of the narrative. Indeed it isn’t even mentioned or hinted at
2. No wokeification
3. Great actor
4. Good writing
Fir example:
- Morgan Freeman as Red (The Shawshank Redemption): red is supposed to be a red haired Irishman
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Will Smith as Agent J (Men in Black): In the original Malibu/Marvel comic book, Agent J is a blonde, white man.
- Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin (Daredevil)
- Jason Mamoa as Aquaman
“until he became older and played different kinds of roles.”
Oh yes! Have you seen “The man who would be king”?
The ancient one from Dr Strange was an asian character originally but brilliantly played by Tilda Swinton.
Angelina Jolie as Fox (Wanted) as in the original comic book series by Mark Millar, the master assassin Fox was explicitly drawn as a Black woman, heavily modeled after the physical appearance of Halle Berry
And there was Olivier as Othello
A woman would not work for Bond. Bond is aggressively male.
Pretty obscure references wouldn’t you say?.....not exactly current day main stream entertainment is it?
“There are some, rare, cases where an actor of a different racecolats a character and it works, because
1. His race is not made the center of the narrative. Indeed it isn’t even mentioned or hinted at
2. No wokeification
3. Great actor
4. Good writing”
Your analysis is dead on right!
Same here...and so long as he’s not some gay lefty. He must be a misogynistic womanizer too!
True.
Not as funny as the Duke playing Genghis Khan!!
“Not as funny as the Duke playing Genghis Khan!!”
I remember seeing that as a kid.....even back then I thought something ain’t right about that. 😏
There's plenty of room in the Mission:Impossible franchise to create a new character to take over from Tom Cruise. That agent can be black and put his own team together.
-PJ
I remember reading somewhere that because of the studio contract system in those days. They could order Big Stars if under contract to play parts in movies even if the star hated the role. Two interesting stories associated with that film. Duke hated it so much he did the film drunk. The other is all the actors got dusted with fallout from a nearby atomic test.
Thanks! I’ve only seen the movie version of, ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps.’ It’s very good.
Yeah I heard that story about the fallout.
Maybe a coincidence but John Wayne died of stomach cancer.
Very interesting info from AI:
“The production is infamously tied to environmental history. The locations were roughly 137 miles downwind from the government’s Nevada Nuclear Test Site. Decades later, an unusually high rate of cancer and related illnesses surfaced among the cast and crew, raising long-standing speculation that radioactive fallout contributed to these tragedies.”
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well....🤷♂️
“They don’t need to make a black James Bond.
There’s plenty of room in the Mission:Impossible franchise “
you do know that James Bond is a separate franchise from the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.