Which Actors Read the Books?
DavidJones
BermondseyPosts: 266MI6 Agent
Anyone here know for sure?
My thinking, as far as I've been able to tell over the years: Sean had apparently read two or three (Doctor No, From Russia With Love, and Live and Let Die); Lazenby, none; Roger, one (Goldfinger, but seems to have stopped after the first couple of pages as he may have thought the "Bond didn't like killing very much" angle was enough for him to work with); Dalton, as a theatre actor used to print-to-stage adaptations, read all of them; Brosnan, first chapter of Casino Royale, which Barbara Broccoli had gifted him as first edition, while Craig and Sam Mendes seem to have farmed out the books between them during pre-production on Skyfall.
But I can't be certain about all this.
Comments
Obviously staged, but may be of interest-
Interesting, particularly as I've never seen these photos before
Perhaps we can broaden out the topic a bit (and enliven a dead thread) by asking if it's important for a Bond actor to have read the books or not.
Many actors and directors of other films and series don't bother.
Guy Hamilton, for instance, directed 1980's The Mirror Crack'd even though he wasn't an Agatha Christie fan at all and actively disliked her work. Similarly, John Woo directed Mission Impossible II without having seen the first film or the television series.
George Lazenby actually did read OHMSS and kept a copy of the novel with him on the set to use as a reference point between takes. Of course the finished film version of OHMSS was very faithful to its Fleming source material.
Mission impossible 2 is a clear reason that directors etc. Should at least have a bit of interest in the source material, that motorcycle chase still haunts me.
I think it would be wise for all such creators on a film (producers, directors, writers and actors) to be at least familiar with or have seen previous films in the series or read the source novel or novels before embarking on their new creative endeavour. How can you properly continue a series if you don't know what has come before? Seems like basic common sense to me but, as we know, common sense isn't one bit common!
We know that Craig has read the books. In fact, I believe he claimed to have read them through twice, before both Casino Royale and Skyfall.
Dalton has also confirmed that he read them.
Lazenby has stated that Peter Hunt refused to communicate with him during filming, so Lazenby was forced to rely on Fleming for guidance. I’ve always posited that this is why you see some vulnerability in Lazenby’s Bond that was missing from Connery’s portrayal.
From there, we’re left to speculate. Brosnan certainly loved the character, but I’ve always understood Connery—not Fleming—to be his primary influence. And again, he played Bond as invulnerable, albeit a bit sentimental at times.
It’s probably a fair assumption that Roger never read them. I’ve seen an old interview promoting, I believe, The Spy Who Loved Me, where Roger states his view that Fleming’s books were outdated (in 1977!) and, by implication, did not serve as a reference point for him.
As for Connery, one would think that an unproven actor taking on a new role would have consulted the then-contemporary source material. But it’s hard to say. Nothing about his portrayal indicates that he was influenced by Fleming as opposed to just the screenplay itself. Fleming’s Bond routinely displayed a vulnerability that Connery never even attempted to convey.
Great replies here!
I'd add a quote from Connery: "I found Ian Fleming himself much more interesting than his writing."