Henry Cavill is 20 years deep into the “You should be James Bond!” curse, and A.I. is making it worse
"Maybe I’m too old now or maybe I’m not," said Cavill, whose career has circled the Bond drain for 20 years at this poitn
Aux News Henry Cavill
We would like to posit that no single film role has done more to damage the psyches of British male actors of a certain age, type, and jawline than James Bond. The moment pretty much any of these poor saps hits, like, 25, the rumors and speculation, the internal questioning, the horrific, endless pressure all start. “You should be James Bond!” the universe screams at these suckers, until the poor damn fools actually start to believe it, helplessly throwing themselves into the thresher, only to almost inevitably get spat out.
Henry Cavill got it bad, and early, having auditioned for the part all the way back in 2005, when he was just 22 years old, and narrowly losing out on the role to Daniel Craig. Not only does that mean Cavill has spent the last 20 years watching Craig become one of the most celebrated Bonds of all time (while filling his own resumé with numerous Bond-a-likes like The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), but, now that the part is finally being recast after that legendary tenure, he might be too old (at 40) to even dine on the leftovers. And that’s before we note the horrors of having to contemplate any of this happening in the era of A.I.-made video, where, say, a clip of “Cavill” in the superspy role can pick up millions of views, deforming his poor British brain even more.
Cavill, for his part, is apparently trying to stay clearheaded about this, fielding the inevitable question about Bond this week while he was promoting Guy Ritchie spy flick The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare. (Which, at the risk of spoilers, has Bond connections of its own buried in its “based-on-a-true-story” frame.) Cavill responded to queries with the shrugging politeness of a man who has been asked the exact same question hundreds of times over the last 20 years of his life, saying, “I have no idea. All I have to go off of is the rumors. I have the same information you have. Maybe I’m too old now or maybe I’m not. We’ll see what the [producers’] plans are.”
None of this, we have to assume, has been helped by a fan-trailer for “BOND 26" that went viral online this week, showing Cavill as Bond opposite a digital Margot Robbie. The video picked up 3 million views in less than a week despite looking like—to editorialize briefly—hot steaming garbage, suggesting that there’s some deep weird need in people to see this particular handsome British man play the most famous fake handsome British man of all time.
9 Comments
If he’s only 40, he’s not too old. Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan were all over 40 when they debuted as Bond.
Whoever they cast, I can’t wait to be disappointed by the next film regardless.
I’m gonna add “Nobody has ever considered casting me as James Bond” to my list of blessings I count. Hopefully the next time I stub my toe or have a flat tire, it will remind me of how good I really have it.
Daniel Craig sucked
I don’t see it working well. I can understand why he hasn’t been cast.
Well fuck, I clicked on that stupid fucking fan trailer and I regret giving it a view.The thing about Cavill as Bond is that he really only looks the part; I haven’t seen what he would truly bring to the role. He’s charming, but to say a charming actor could play James Bond is like saying I could be an Olympic athlete because I have four working limbs.Connery was sociopathically self-assured; Moore was sociopathically insouciant; Dalton had barely-restrained rage; Brosnan was coolly professional; Craig had boundless self-loathing. You need something to be Bond besides just looking good in a suit.
Eh, in fairness, all of those qualities were choices the actors made after they’d been cast, and developed while working with the writers, directors, and the producers. You could arguably ask the same of Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, or any other actor the Internet has insisted would be the “perfect” James Bond. We won’t know what they’ll bring to the role until after we see the movie, or at least a trailer.
and A.I. is making it worseI feel you can add that to most headlines these days…
Tom Ellis is the perfect choice.