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James Bond: Past Actors’ Advice To The Future 007

By Plutarc Sicat
Published on: 19:11 PST, Jul 31, 2016

James Bond is the longest-lasting movie franchise in Hollywood history, spanning more than 50 years and with a total production output of 25 James Bond flicks.With Daniel Craig bowing out last year after having done four movies in 10 years, the future looks bright for the next 007 as the torch is passed. We’ll be taking advice from Craig first not only because he is the last actor to play the part.

Craig’s last two James Bond flicks also made the most money in the history of the franchise. Most notable is Skyfall, a story of the emotionally vulnerable British Secret Service assassin who comes back to his childhood roots. This is where James Bond meets Boyhood, the award-winning film about growing up to become a young man filmed in actual years.

So what advice does Daniel Craig give to the next James Bond torch recipient? Take it from Time Out, which quotes the actor as bluntly saying the following.

“My advice to the next James Bond? Don’t be sh*t!”

Of course, it’s only to be expected that Craig would say that. After all, he appears to be the most hardworking of all the James Bonds out there. Do you know that he spent two days just shooting one short scene with Bond Girl Caterina Murino in Casino Royale, the actor’s first take on the role?

According to Mirror, the scene where Bond Girl Caterina arrives at the casino and James Bond moves his card was acted out repeatedly between the two actors for 48 hours before Craig gave the scene a final nod. Caterina paints a picture of Daniel as a perfectionist who gets so burned out that he just had to quit.

If this were the case, should the next James Bond follow along with Craig’s work ethic or take the role lightly? Perhaps a balance would be most suitable as job counselors and even psychiatrists would advise, according to The Globe and Mail.

However, a balancing act is easier said than done. To illustrate, Craig evidently knows how to relax, especially after the grueling work he put in for Spectre, the latest James Bond opus to hit the box office. Asked how he unwinds, he tells Time Out the following.

“Literally, just have a holiday. It’s fair enough, no? I just want to switch my brain off…It’s about switching that feeling off, turning the alarm off and going to sleep. I drink a lot more too.”

So based on what the latest James Bond player says, he does know how to relax his frayed nerves even though he is evidently a workaholic and perfectionist at the same time. Craig’s final words of advice to the next 007 is as follows.

“Firstly, it’s your decision. Don’t listen to anybody else. Well, do listen to everybody, but you have to make the choice at the end of the day. You’ve got to step up… It’s worth it, it’s James Bond.”

Craig’s advice is consistent with Sir Roger Moore’s point of view regarding the subject. Moore is widely considered as the most popular of all the James Bond players in history. In a speech before students at Cambridge University, he criticized the performance of the major 007 actors — including himself.

“Sean [Connery] is a good actor, it’s a pity I can’t understand what he’s saying,” Moore told Mirror. And what about Daniel Craig?

“Quantum of Solace is like a long, disjointed commercial,” says Moore regarding one of Craig’s works.

Regarding his own work, A View To a Kill, a 1985 James Bond blockbuster, Sir Roger Moore says that it was spoiled by a shaky plot. If you haven’t noticed, Moore seems to be as much a perfectionist as Craig. Nothing much pleases him, except his fifth wife Kristina Tholstrup, who he says is his favorite Bond Girl.

Roger Moore has figured in eight James Bond movies. He also tells Mirror that what he likes the most about starring in 007 pictures was “getting paid on Fridays.”

In interviews on British television in 2009, Sean Connery compares his James Bond with Sir Roger Moore’s portrayal. Connery underscores how his version concentrated on “reality and authenticity.”

Meanwhile, Moore took 007 in a different direction by putting more sophisticated gadgets into the movies and making a parody of the character so as to inject more humor into the role. Connery agrees with his interviewer that Craig’s Bond is some sort of a return to the Connery treatment of the subject.

And so the future James Bond actor could either be faithful to the traditional character or take the role to an entirely different direction, based on Connery’s pronouncements. Apparently, Moore’s version of Ian Fleming’s sophisticated spy has attracted a different audience, thereby advancing the character’s pull at the tills.

The road is therefore wide open for improvisation as it is for sticking to the original ingredients that made the beloved spy’s persona tick. But for all past James Bonds, mediocrity seems out of the question.

[Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images]

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