Idris Elba discusses difficulties of being the first black James Bond

by Charlotte Krol

 

Idris Elba attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 24, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

 

Idris Elba has spoken about issues he may face should he land the role of James Bond.

 

The Luther actor revealed why he would feel the pressure if his rumoured appointment materialised – and it’s to do with the colour of his skin.

 

“James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey, Elba told Vanity Fair. “Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me.’

“But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond’. You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be’. And it really turns out to be the colour of my skin.”
 

Full Story: https://www.nme.com/news/film/idris-elba-discusses-difficulties-first-black-james-bond-2518052

Fer cryin' out loud - what next? A lesbian Martian paraplegic 007?

Idris is a great actor, very talented, but just can't see him as Bond. 

 

Given that in the past there have been Scottish and Irish Bonds, at least he's English.

11 minutes ago, quandow said:

A lesbian Martian paraplegic 007?

Baby steps, Ms Moneypenny first then in a few years M, then by say, 2025, the lesbian Martian paraplegic can step up (<--- figuratively speaking) to the main role ????

I have no problem with a black Bond type character (The Equaliser movies are great), or a woman, or a gay, or LBGT, any other ethnicity, or colour, but let's stop calling them all "James Bond".  JB was a particularly detailed and  well drawn character in the books, portrayed to perfection by Sean Connery and particularly by Roger Moore and diluting that character just doesn't make any sense from a James Bond fan perspective. Call him/her/them something else and move on.  Of course, that would just make the character just like thousands of others,  in thousands of movies over many years. But hey, that's show business.  

Who want's a black James Bond? James Bond is a white heterosexual guy. It's a fact.

Create a new character 001 or 700 or whatever and make him black or a woman or whatever. No problem. But why 007?

 

19 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

Idris is a great actor, very talented, but just can't see him as Bond. 

 

Oh no, the man couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.  Totally over rated in my view. 

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

Who want's a black James Bond? James Bond is a white heterosexual guy. It's a fact.

Create a new character 001 or 700 or whatever and make him black or a woman or whatever. No problem. But why 007?

 

Precisely my point.  Read the books guys 

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Precisely my point.  Read the books guys 

Not long ago I read all the James Bond books from the first to the last.

It was interesting how many of the movies are a lot different from the books.

And it's funny that all newer movies which are not based on the original books still use movie titles from the "old" books.

Anyone read Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series? Roland Duschane aka The Gunslinger, the main protagonist, was a white, ageless cowboy with "bombardier blue eyes." They cast a black guy in the movie for the sake of casting a black guy. Multiple references to Roland's blue eyes in the books, it was important to the story line. As referenced earlier in this thread, cast all the different types of actors for NEW roles but let's leave the classics alone, OK?

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Not long ago I read all the James Bond books from the first to the last.

It was interesting how many of the movies are a lot different from the books.

And it's funny that all newer movies which are not based on the original books still use movie titles from the "old" books.

In the books you could clearly picture what JB looked like, what his past was like, what he acted and reacted like.  They were (are) really entertaining, if very dated now. They (he) can't be 'modernised',  as he was a character of his time. 

Idris is a great actor, very cool, love the guy.  As JB, I don't see it..but I'd like to, perhaps in an alternative spin off.  Would there be a white Shaft? (has there been??)

 

 

Just now, KenzoRai said:

Idris is a great actor, very cool, love the guy.  As JB, I don't see it..but I'd like to, perhaps in an alternative spin off.  Would there be a white Shaft? (has there been??)

 

 

well I guess we all have our own opinion.  I think way over rated such that he makes me cringe whenever I see him try to 'act'. 

You clearly haven't read the first novella, Casino Royale, or seen the first Bond adaptation of Casino Royale.  Bond was as camp as a row of pink tents.

 

34 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Given that in the past there have been Scottish and Irish Bonds, at least he's English.

Let's not forget the Australian Bond, George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

12 minutes ago, Barry Friedman said:

Let's not forget the Australian Bond, George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Yes, he was truly awful 

My dad worked for MI6. You don't get an Aston Martin, a stack of casino chips and lots of girls. If you met him you would never guess what he did for a living, but then he never set foot in Hollywood.

 

The Bond from Ian Fleming's books has to be a suave sophisticated British gentleman. Connery and Craig played Bond best, can't see it going down well if a black guy played the role.

Fleming's Bond was a suave white heterosexual man. Let's keep him that way.

 

Incidentally, I don't like the current incarnation Craig either. He's a very fine actor but one bad night's sleep from ugly. When Connery walked into a place he looked like he owned it, Craig seems like he's looking for the men's room.

 

Henry Cavill's been touted. He's got the looks but can't act his way out of a paper bag. And campy as those 007 movies are Bond has to carry them all the way - man has to be able to act.

 

I would vote for Luke Evans. Seen him in only one movie Beauty and the Beast but man's not only Bondesque handsome but got the acting chops as well.

The problem with all of this is that the James Bond character is a white Englishman. It doesn't make sense to cast Idris Elba in that role. Daniel Craig is a decent Bond but he'd be no bloody use playing New York Detective John Shaft ... who is a black guy. Let's not mess with established characters for the sake of political correctness ... what's next, Olivia Twist the Dickensian transgender orphan?

Edited June 28, 20197 yr by AlexRich

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who want's a black James Bond? James Bond is a white heterosexual guy. It's a fact.

Create a new character 001 or 700 or whatever and make him black or a woman or whatever. No problem. But why 007?

 

I think we need a pregnant women, black, disabled, Muslim, transgender, James bond who is suffering from mental health issues, stress and is also a vegan.  That should please everyone.  

1 hour ago, ballpoint said:

Given that in the past there have been Scottish and Irish Bonds, at least he's English.

I thought I'd check, as I thought the same as you. Turns out James Bond has a Scottish father and  Swiss mother ... so British and Scottish.

 

 

Im sure Daniel Craig is lamenting the difficulties he would face playing the first white Shaft.

Most of the British population would be Black by now anyway. type casting has always been the norm.

Bretex is the least of dear old Englands troubles.

Perhaps its long past time for the next Darwinism event to occur.

Laurence Olivier playing Othello ...

 

How about getting Idris to wear "white face".

9 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who want's a black James Bond? James Bond is a white heterosexual guy. It's a fact.

Create a new character 001 or 700 or whatever and make him black or a woman or whatever. No problem. But why 007?

 

That's easy, movies are all about "guaranteed" monetary returns nowadays, and nothing to do with originality or just being good movies in their own rights.

Hence the rash of atrocious remakes of beloved old movies, because while producers want to make money, they can't make good movies, and think ripping off people's positive feelings to a movie(s) they loved will see a lot of ticket sales, but they also desire to follow an agenda of PC, which has seen many actors of colour put in films, playing parts of people that would in reality be white.

In Mary, Queen of Scots they put a black man in to play an actual historical character that was definitely NOT black, and seemed surprised when viewers complained.

I've seen several remakes of movies recently that have made casting decisions based on race that were inappropriate to the times the movie was set in. It might have been acceptable had the movies been well made successes, but most were lemons.

8 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Im sure Daniel Craig is lamenting the difficulties he would face playing the first white Shaft.

Ah, you have exposed the weak spot in the entire debacle. While it's apparently acceptable for black actors to play white characters, can any of us imagine the uproar if a white man were to play Martin Luther King Jr in a movie?

There were mutterings of having a female Bond a while back, so same applies. Would the PC accept a man playing a  beloved female person from history?

9 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

I think we need a pregnant women, black, disabled, Muslim, transgender, James bond who is suffering from mental health issues, stress and is also a vegan.  That should please everyone.  

We can do lots of that. But a vegan? That really stretches it too far! 

That also reminds me of the Jack Reacher books.  And then the movie with Tom Cruise. Hilarious idea!

Maybe the movie was not even bad. I don't know, I never watched it.

But that small guy can't possibly play the big character Reacher. They should have hired The Rock or someone similar to play Reacher. Or call the movie something different like Small Man and let Cruise play it.

One or the other!