Salmon's Bond Bitterness

NeilP · October 2006

Colin Salmon, who played M's aide Charles Robinson in two of the Brosnan films, is furious at being "snubbed" for the role of James Bond!
Salmon won't even get the chance to reprise his role as Robinson in "Casino Royale", and he is bitter former co-star Dame Judi Dench got to keep her part playing MI6 boss M.
He says, "It makes no sense. They've got rid of Q, Miss Moneypenny yet they keep Dench in it. It's confusing."
However, a spokeswoman for Bond production company EON denies racism: "I think it's a rather below the belt allegation and I can't believe Colin has suggested it.
Now he has point, its stupid having a 72 year old woman as M on Bond's "first mission", when she played opposite Brosnan for years.
However it is ludicrous to think Salmon would have ever got the roll. Brosnan (who has dropped dramatically in my estimation since his departure due to his constant bitching) made a glib remark that Salmon should replace him. Nothing more than a light-hearted quip. Salmon took it seriously.
When I looked at the only other forum topic on Salmon as Bond, there was one thing no one dared to metion. He is black. End of story. James Bond isn't black ergo a black actor can't play him.
But check this out. Either the bosses at EON at being polite or are insane, "Since it wasn't impossible for there to be a blond Bond, then it's not impossible for there to be a black Bond." said a EON spokesperson.
Are they seriously saying there could be a black James Bond one day?? Whats next? Chris Rock is Captain Kirk in Star Trek 11!! Jamie Foxx as Superman!!
Is everyone so afraid of not being politically correct and racially senstive that no one has the balls to point out how ridiculous this is getting?

A7ce · October 2006

I think we've discussed before whether there should be a Black Bond, regardless of Salmon being mentioned, I think it was to do with Will Smith and then probably a female Bond (was it Sharon Stone - or something just as absurd) and I think it was concluded by many,without being racist or sexist, that the James Bond character was White and Male and hence should be portrayed as such.

NeilP · October 2006

Exactly. This is isn't a race issue. Its about the character and who he is. Some people (especially Hollywood producers!) seem to think that they can mess around with stuff like that just to appease ethic / human rights group "its a violation of our rights if you discriminate a black person from playing a white character". Thats the kind of rubbish that infuriates me. Salmon was playing the race card which is unacceptable.

darenhat · October 2006

I'm looking forward to seeing George Clooney in the starring role in a Martin Luther King biopic!

RogueAgent · October 2006

darenhat wrote:

I'm looking forward to seeing George Clooney in the starring role in a Martin Luther King biopic!

I was thinking just the other day how Woody Allen would make an awesome Shaft! I mean Woody already loves filming in New York.

Can you imagine the action scenes for that?

I really can't slam Salmon because I don't know what has been taken out of context to what he may or may not have said. I would like to think that he's a lot classier than the jilted cheerleader the media is having us believe that he's acting like...

Oh, and darenhat, I think the sarcasm would've rimshot better had you cast Clooney as an against-type fictional character instead of an actual person.

Gassy Man · October 2006

While I agree that Bond is written as a white man -- and that the general description makes sense for the actor who plays him -- I wouldn't mind seeing Salmon tackle the role or something similar. I remember seeing him years ago on "Prime Suspect" and remarking that he had the bearing to be in a Bond film. I certainly wouldn't want jug-eared Will Smith anywhere near Bond -- he's already ruined "The Wild Wild West," and one franchise is enough for me.

emtiem · October 2006

If this has been remarked as accurate, then Salmon's losing it. In the report he even calls his co-star 'Dench'; which isn't the way to refer to your elder; especially not a Dame.

I wouldn't want him anywhere near Bond; not least because he's a dreadful actor with a terrible delivery and is very much balding right now. Bargain basement Bond.

Hardyboy · October 2006

To take race out of things for a minute, what I think would be REALLY confusing is having an actor who's played the same supporting character in three straight Bond films suddenly become Bond himself in a fourth! I think then we'd again be stuck with the idea that "James Bond" is just a code name. . .

emtiem · October 2006

Exactly- before you even get to address the race issue you're already faced by his lacking acting ability; his high profile presence in previous Bond movies; his advancing years (he's far too old to start playing Bond now- especially a fresh faced version; as CR is supposed to be)...etc. He's just not a candidate before the issue of appearance is addressed.

MBE_ · October 2006

Hardyboy wrote:

To take race out of things for a minute, what I think would be REALLY confusing is having an actor who's played the same supporting character in three straight Bond films suddenly become Bond himself in a fourth! I think then we'd again be stuck with the idea that "James Bond" is just a code name. . .

What's the difference between that and M and Leiter meeting Bond for the first time when they've already met him for the first time in other films (Goldeneye and Dr. No) after he was an established agent? We're already dealing with an entirely different timeline so the fact that he played Robinson before just doesn't matter. The series has been rebooted. Sure, I'd find it confusing but other things I find confusing about this Bond 2.0 I've been told to get over, so what's the difference?

As for Salmon, I think he's very sexy and talented and have since I first saw him in Prime Suspect 2. He's right, a black actor coudn't be Bond now because just look at the hubbub about Bond being blonde. There's nothing outrageous or playing the race card about that statement. It's the truth. EON's spokespeople saying it's below the belt etc is nonsensical. But then that's par for the course for them.

MBE

Monique · October 2006

RogueAgent wrote:

I was thinking just the other day how Woody Allen would make an awesome Shaft! I mean Woody already loves filming in New York.

Can you imagine the action scenes for that?

Cracked me up.

)

Loeffelholz · October 2006

The sense of 'entitlement' Salmon seems to be displaying here is a bit irksome---though I'll allow for the 'out of context' factor...

No actor should be so presumptuous as to to think they are owed a job---particularly such a coveted role as 007; my brother is a working SAG member in LA, and he recently lost a guest role on "24" simply because he's too tall to be in a two-shot with Kiefer Sutherland X-(

It's a jungle out there; the business isn't 'fair,' and nothing is guaranteed...just ask the last Bond...

Loeffelholz · October 2006

Eye Of The Tiger wrote:

I was going to post that a few days back, but I would have been accused of just trying to cause trouble. 8-)

Leave it to me, Eye my friend...but this is just My Ridiculous Opinion

Whenever I cause trouble, it tends to be by accident.*

* Believe It Or Not!

Lady Rose · October 2006

Lifelessly wrote:

It's a jungle out there; the business isn't 'fair,' and nothing is guaranteed...just ask the last Bond...

Exactly. If the Bond actors position isn't secure, nobodies is. Robinson was always a superfluous character. He just made up the numbers.

As for Salmon, I agree with Hardy that it would be silly to have an actor who has played a specific certain role 3 times before to suddenly appear as Bond. It just wouldn't work.

As for Salmons suitability anyway, I saw him over several weeks in the dreadful ( but very watchable) 'Bad Girls' recently and he was awful.
He totally confirmed to me that he cant act for toffee and he seems to have turned a corner in the looks department too. He could no more hold a lead role of Bonds magnitude than I could !

Salmon, the Bond series can live without.

Solaris · October 2006

I saw Salmon is the very Bond esque The Outsiders, he basically played the same character he plays in the Bond films, and He really could NEVER EVER EVER play James Bond, and that is me looking at his acting ability alone.

Loeffelholz · October 2006

Lady Rose wrote:

Lifelessly wrote:

It's a jungle out there; the business isn't 'fair,' and nothing is guaranteed...just ask the last Bond...

'Lifelessly'??

My name has suffered numerous abuses over the course of my life, as I'm sure you can imagine, but this is a first...

Are you trying to tell me something, Rose? ?:)

Lady Rose · October 2006

Loeffelholz wrote:

Lady Rose wrote:

Lifelessly wrote:

It's a jungle out there; the business isn't 'fair,' and nothing is guaranteed...just ask the last Bond...

'Lifelessly'??

My name has suffered numerous abuses over the course of my life, as I'm sure you can imagine, but this is a first...

Are you trying to tell me something, Rose? ?:)

Spell checkers have a lot to answer for! ;%

Loeffelholz · October 2006

I've been called worse, my dear {[] It did put an interesting spin on my morning when I logged in... :v

)

Actually, I once received a call from a telemarketer, who asked, "May I speak to Mister Leo-Phallus?"

)

jetsetwilly · October 2006

Loeffelholz wrote:

Actually, I once received a call from a telemarketer, who asked, "May I speak to Mister Leo-Phallus?"

) ) )

Dare I ask what she was selling?

)

Loeffelholz · October 2006

jetsetwilly wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

Actually, I once received a call from a telemarketer, who asked, "May I speak to Mister Leo-Phallus?"

) ) )

Dare I ask what she was selling? )

I never found out, as I was still laughing when I hung up on her...

)

I keep a collection of the various misspellings and mispronunciations of my name; it's endlessly entertaining...

Johnny Danger · October 2006

Well, maybe Salmon could have been offered the Felix Leiter part, since they hired a black guy for that anyway. But then that would have confused some people, since he had already played Robinson in the previous films.8-)

Is that any more confusing than the other actors who changed roles within the series? Maud Adams, Robert Brown, and Joe Don Baker all had major role changes within the Bond series without much confusion. The only difference here is that Judi Dench is playing the same character, but in a new timeline. So what if the same actress who played the second M in the previous series is playing first M in the second series? (When I say "second M", I am assuming that Bernard Lee and Robert Brown were both portaying the same man, as I am certain we are supposed to believe).

I don't understand the timeline confusion. There is no longer a previous timeline. Think of CR as Bond 1. Bond has a female boss. He has just earned his 00 rank. Bond has neither met nor married Tracy yet. Moneypenny has not been hired as M's secretary yet, or at least not that we know of. Q-Branch may exist, but neither it nor Q will be introduced in this film.

I have a feeling that before long, we will have a new M (probably male), and Ms. Moneypenny and Q will be introduced to the "new" Bond series as new characters, hopefully without as much of the silly "comic relief" they provided in the previous "timeline".

blueman · October 2006

Any follow-up to this article? Sounds like BS to me, and if it's just the one "source"...

spiderman · October 2006

or what about Daniel Craig playing Nelson Mandela instead of Bond?

some people just don´t understand, that Ian Fleming´s Bond is white, not black
there is no racism in it, this is just fact

Dan Same · October 2006

A black Bond; I thought Will Smith was going to play 007? ?:)

Red Indian · October 2006

Maybe Salmon can ring Cleese and the two of them can go out for Whaa burgers and some french cries. Don't let the door hit either of you on the way out...

I'm hoping the rumor that Dame Edna playing Batman is true!

My Grandmother is still upset over losing the role of Spiderman to Tobey Maguire, she was so close...

highhopes · October 2006

I'm available to play "the fair-skinned private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks ... Shaft!"

I'm thinking Clay Aiken for the theme song.

Right on!

Red Indian · October 2006

Nice one HH! The funny thing about this thread (for me) is that a number of years ago I talked to a friend of mine (from England) about this very subject. He argued that a black guy could play Bond. I could never see it, just like you playing Shaft - or me playing Octopussy!

caractacus potts · October 2006

spiderman wrote:

some people just don´t understand, that Ian Fleming´s Bond is white, not black
there is no racism in it, this is just fact

Im not convinced
Flemings always on about Bonds tan
maybe Bond was black, and Fleming was just assuming he was a heavily tanned white man

Salmon's Bond Bitterness

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