Honeymoon

Here’s another story from the Hofstra event. This comes from the live, in-person interview with Robert Davi, who played the drug lord Sanchez in Licence to Kill.

Davi was funny. When asked for stories about the filming of LTK, he said, “Look, it was Mexico City, me, Timothy [Dalton], and Benicio [del Toro] going out every night. Tequila was involved. I could tell tales.”

Davi, Dalton, and del Toro are all Method actors, and they bonded (no pun intended) over the acting. At one point, Davi was asked (by Lee Pfeiffer, who conducted the interview), how it was being directed by John Glen. He said they were given a lot of leeway to explore the roles. For example, he said, the way that del Toro said “Honeymoooon.”

“That was an unusual line reading,” he said, “And Benicio got a lot of support to explore that.”

Now, when Benicio del Toro says “We gave her a nice honeymoooon” in LTK, it’s creepy and disturbing and odd. And it sticks in my head. Everyone’s head, I guess, because the audience totally recognized what he was talking about. But what’s interesting to me is the actor’s process. That everyone on-set was aware of how weird that line reading was, and how daring, and paid attention to it (Sanchez wasn’t even in the scene).

Summing up James Bond (“The One Who” game)

I actually did this in The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book, but I don’t have the manuscript in front of me, and I thought it would be fun to do it again, fresh. I mean, I may end up repeating myself, but I might not.

Here’s the idea: Each actor who played Bond can be characterized, summed up in a few words. Let’s start with the notion that each actor had something valuable to bring to the role, and not be insulting, and then let’s see where we go.

Sean Connery is the one who…
is Scottish.
Created the role.
Has a lisp.
Kills in cold blood.

George Lazenby is the one who…
is Australian.
Only played Bond once.
Has dimples.
Broke a stuntman’s nose during his audition.

Roger Moore is the one who…
was “a gentleman spy.”
Made more Bond films than anyone else.
Raised one eyebrow.
Was tongue-in-cheek.

Timothy Dalton is the one who…
is Welsh.
Was the “dark Bond.”
Is known for playing villains in numerous movies.
Is the tallest Bond.

Pierce Brosnan is the one who…
is Irish.
Straightens his tie.
Seems like a combination of all his predecessors.
Should have gotten one more chance!

Daniel Craig is the one who…
is blond.
Is the shortest Bond.
Surprised a lot of fans.
Is the “rebooted” Bond.

Your turn!

The history of Bond actors (in brief)

When Eon first cast another actor as Bond, lots of folks said it couldn’t be done. If there had been an Internet back then, there would have been ConneryISBond.com. Even with the primitive (teehe) technology available in 1969, a lot of people managed to make their complaints heard. To this day, I run into people who have never seen anyone but Connery in the role, or have reluctantly viewed later movies and found them wanting—mostly, found them wanting a certain Scotsman.

But Lazenby’s casting, unsuccessful though it was, did an interesting thing: It freed Eon. They didn’t feel they had to cast ‘Connery light;’ audiences still came to see a Bond movie without The Man. So they felt confident in changing the game utterly, and casting Roger Moore; long on their list, and an actor absolutely nothing like Sean Connery.

But confidence is a funny thing. Once Moore proved a hit, Eon was reluctant to change. There is no doubt that Moore was way too old to play 007 in A View To a Kill, but I’d argue he was long in the tooth by Octopussy, even though that is a much better movie. Seven movies is probably just too many.

Letting go of Moore finally taught the Bond producers a lesson in letting go; a lesson that perhaps Pierce Brosnan believes they learned too well. Lots of fans (like me) believe that Brosnan had a fifth excellent Bond in him, but it was not to be.

What’s interesting here is the way that Eon was able to move from one actor to the next. Dalton made one successful and one less-than-stellar (financially) movie, and some of us stand by his portrayal. But from Dalton on, the producers have been able to look at each actor as truly a new era, a new Bond, a new interpretation, and allow the movies to shape the actor, and the actor to shape the movies.

Could Pierce Brosnan have made Casino Royale? I believe so. I believe he could have made an outstanding Casino Royale. But he couldn’t have made this Casino Royale; the one Daniel Craig made. It would have been a Brosnan movie, with whatever you feel is good or bad about that. CR is Craig’s movie through and through; I mean, yes, it’s Ian Fleming’s, it’s Martin Campbell’s, it’s Paul Haggis’s, but it’s really Daniel Craig’s. He’s been allowed to interpret the character, to be in his own place with 007, and that has made all the difference.

Dalton’s Birthday

Yesterday was Timothy Dalton’s birthday. I blogged it as his 63rd, per the IMDb. But CBn has him as 61 (born in 1946) and CBn is almost certainly correct.

So there you go.

Timothy Dalton is 63

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bond.

It’s like it’s Timothy Dalton week or something

CBn links to a nice interview with Timothy Dalton.

Here’s my favorite quote:

How was it to suddenly become world famous?
It’s quite odd at first. You realise that everyone in the street is eyeing you up and down. You become very, very known. There’s virtually no privacy at all except that which you carve out for yourself. I made a documentary about wolves and was 800km (500 miles) from the North Pole. My little plane flew into this small Eskimo village that I was to stay in and all the Eskimos started saying: ‘It’s James Bond! Come and eat some raw fish!’ You’re known everywhere.

That image is going to stick with me. In fact, “It’s James Bond! Come and eat some raw fish!” may make it into a sig line somewhere.

The feeling is mutual

The other day I reported that Daniel Craig thought Timothy Dalton was an excellent Bond. Today we learn that Dalton feels the same way about Craig.

Cool.

You know, the question I am asked the most, and the question I hate the most, is “Who’s your favorite Bond?” Because four of the six are absolutely fantastic. I don’t like Lazenby, and Moore did some things well but other things very poorly, but I always feel terrible when I choose Connery over Brosnan, or Dalton over Craig. I mean, I love these men.

When it comes to James Bond, I am definitely not monogamous.

Timothy Dalton Lovers, Take Heart

Nice article in Vue Weekly about Dalton’s tenure as Bond, with a great opening line:

Don’t believe me; Daniel Craig said it too: “Timothy Dalton was great in the part.”

Now, here’s an author after my own heart, who talks about Dalton’s gravitas, his love scenes, and his edginess.

As Bond, Timothy Dalton actually looks like a professional secret agent who could kill someone when the circumstances dictate it.

It is a pleasure to see articles like this, because we Dalton fans are too often made to stand in the corner.