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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Eva Green Was The Best Choice Left…

Eva Green is the perfect Bond girl… gorgeous, a bit stiff and aloof, European, and now, unlikely to ever be taken seriously again. I look forward to the “Whatever Happened To” 20 years from now, in which a mature and even more gorgeous Green finally agrees to an interview about her wealthy husband, 6 kids, and the island they have lived on for all those post-Bond years.
However, the goal of hiring an actress who would be a near-equal to Bond has to be marked down as an unmitigated failure.
The biggest loser here, in my view, is Scarlett Johnasson, who missed the perfect opportunity to be the opening action grrrrl who dies in M:I3 when the movie went off the early tracks, then suffered a minor setback on The Island, and who now really needs to find her movie star personna for the future. She is not the prescient adolescent-weighted girl who had such heat in movies like Lost in Translation just a couple of years ago. She actually has more to say, as she showed in A Love Song For Bobby Long and then did not in (except for one speech) in Match Point.
Now, I’m not saying it was an easy hire. If you look at all the young women who have some acting cred, looks, and that breakout potential, they are all pretty overtly American. Young actresses who wouldn’t (like Scarlett, Reese, Uma, Naomi Watts, Rachel McAdams), those not asked (Michelle Monaghan, Amy Adams, Kate Hudson), and those who don’t quite have the right chops (Eva Mendes, Jessica Simpson, Jessica Alba) all seem overtly American, even if ethnic American. There are a few exotics (Penelope Cruz, Zhang Ziyi, Salma Hayek), but been there, done that.
Aside from Angelina Jolie, Naomi Watts, Mendes, McAdams, and the very pregnant Rachel Weisz, Eva Green is the only woman with a major part in a top 20 worldwide hit last year. So, given the importance of the non-domestic market, that factor points to Ms. Green as well.
But still

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49 Responses to “Eva Green Was The Best Choice Left…”

  1. Wrecktum says:

    I don’t understand the big deal about becoming a Bond Girl. Was the press all a-titter Maud Adams and Barbara Bach were hired all those many years ago (you know, when Bond was actually a hot property?)?
    I don’t know why you pulled Scarlett’s name out of the hat on this one. She’s bound for stardom no matter if she does Bond flicks or not. I see her as the Jennifer Connelly of the aughties: a pneumatic young actress who’s noticed mostly by the indie crowd in her youth, but an actor with such natural, mature intelligence in her roles that she’ll finally come into her own when she hits 30.

  2. Crow T Robot says:

    I’m with Wrecktum on this one. Your analysis is messy, Poland. Scarlett is just 21… don’t bring her into this. (Besides American Bond babes have always been dull — the only one to warm my blood was Jill St. John’s Tiffany Case.)
    I will say again, I admired the maturity Green brought to her role in “Kingdom” last year. Although still a kid, she carries herself with a calm and confidence you don’t see anymore in young actors… recalls a young Julie Christie.
    I think it’s a good choice.
    And hopefully Paul Haggis will figure out a way for Jeffrey Wright to pull Miss Green out of an exploding car — even after she calls him the n-word.

  3. Nicol D says:

    I love Bond. It is one of my favourite franchises. However…even I am starting to wonder if this will be an ‘all good things…’ type of film.
    If we follow Bond’s of the past, Craig will flop a la Lazenby and Dalton (who is actually my favourite). It seems to take the public some time to warm up to a new Bond.
    But…I dunno…I’m not sensing a ‘want’ for this film.
    However, the Brosnan one’s have all been hits.
    If they really are gonna go out after this if it flops…they should bring Sean back one last time.

  4. Wrecktum says:

    ^ The man’s 70. That’d be a real stretch. Plus, the last time Connery donned the Bond tuxedo was in 1983’s Never Say Never Again. It came out the same year as Octopussy and was promptly stomped.

  5. jeffmcm says:

    Johansson would really have been a bad choice for a Bond movie. She’s too naturalistic, too nice, and Bond girls are stiffer, more stylized fantasy women than they are real women.
    And again with the jab at Scarlett’s weight!
    And again with the need to point out Weisz’s pregnancy! Is there a word for guys who are into that?

  6. Nicol D says:

    If Scarlett is considered overweight than I might as well just get a subscription to ‘big girl’ magazine.
    She is refreshingly beautiful and not waif like at all. She actually would be perfectly suited to the type of femme fatale role of intellligent, whiskey voiced women that Hollywood used to write into film noirs so many years ago.

  7. palmtree says:

    I agree, Nicol, Dalton was a severely underrated Bond.

  8. Martin S says:

    Scarlett’s agents should pat themselves on the back; not one average movie goer knows who the hell she is, but the film community treats her like she’s solid. The girl can’t open a bag of peanuts, let alone a movie. What kills these girls career, is they buy into the hype.

  9. Joe Leydon says:

    Dalton always struck me as closest to the James Bond that Ian Fleming described in his novels. Of course, a fat lot of good that did him. Still, I agree with Nicol and Palmtree: Dalton never got the props he deserved.

  10. LesterFreed says:

    Scarlet is really young. I don’t blame her for turning this down. Being a Bond girl doesn’t have career making jive like it used to have. She is going to have a great career ahead of her.

  11. lazarus says:

    correct me if I’m wrong, and I’m not saying he was the definitive Bond, but wasn’t Roger Moore actually Fleming’s first choice? thought I read that somewhere.
    Dalton did well; unfortunately for him the films themselves sucked. You really have to go back to The Spy Who Loved Me to find a classically made Bond film, in my opinion. They have since devolved into generic action films bearing little resemblance to the fantasy espionage of the heydays. For my money, I’d take either of the recent Bourne films over all the post 70’s Bond films.
    Having said that, I’m willing to give Craig and the “rejuvenation” a chance. Haggis doesn’t thrill me, but at least someone with a name is writing the damned thing.
    Also, I love how DP termed Cruz, Hayek, and Zhang as “exotics”. What is he now, a British explorer? And how does Eva Mendes get thrown into the “overtly American” category? And no mention of Rosario Dawson?
    I love Eva Green, and don’t think this will suddenly turn her into a popcorn movie actress. She’s fucking French, for christ’s sake. She’ll be back to the arthouse in no time. Let her cash one in while she still can.
    One last thing, if you haven’t seen the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven, you really don’t know what she’s capable of. Damn good stuff.

  12. PastePotPete says:

    I’ve read that Ian Fleming’s first choice was Cary Grant(who would only agree to do one film), followed by James Mason(who would only agree to make two), and a few others who turned it down due to contractual obligations, like Patrick McGoohan and Roger Moore.

  13. Blackcloud says:

    “Licence to Kill” was so-so, but “Living Daylights” is one of the best Bonds. Very underrated.

  14. Joe Leydon says:

    Actually, I’ve always heard that Fleming had actor-musician Hoagy Carmichael in mind when he created Bond. Seriously. In fact, in “Casino Royale,” the very first Bond novel, Vesper says of 007: “He reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless.”

  15. Melquiades says:

    In his defense, I don’t think Dave was commenting on Scarlett’s physical weight with the “adoloescent-weighted” comment. I think he’s saying she doesn’t have that “girl on the brink of becoming a woman” thing going on anymore.
    Not sure what that has to do with the Bond role, however.

  16. Angelus21 says:

    Dalton was just in some terrible Bond movies. He didn’t have it. Whatever “it” is. Dalton is more of a bad guy for me than a hero. Maybe Connery ruined Bond for me since he just owned the role. Moore was good too but he still wasn’t Connery.
    Maybe it is a good thing they’re going with Daniel Craig. He won’t be compared with the others as much because he looks much different.

  17. Crow T Robot says:

    Following Brosnan’s successful bombast with a gritty character based, Fleming-eque (and Jason Bourne derivative) Bond is risky. Dalton (who brought conviction back to the role) was the sacrifical lamb on that move. As someone mentioned, The Spy Who Loved Me is what audiences expect from a Bond these days.
    Reinvention is great (and necessary) but let’s hope they don’t experiment too much with what already works. The quality of a Bond film has always been determind by its momentum — and how well the franchise can tease its own formula.

  18. lindenen says:

    They should off Judi Dench as M and replace her with Connery. That would be a nice bit of casting.
    I like how DP doesn’t even bother to mention Jolie’s very pregnant as well. I wonder if she would have taken the role otherwise.

  19. Aladdin Sane says:

    Would Jolie have taken the role? Would she have felt the need? The Tomb Raider films have been somewhat successful for her, haven’t they?

  20. Cadavra says:

    Me, I woulda picked Rhona Mitra. Stop-a-clock gorgeous, British accent, solid acting chops, and she has enough of a following from “Tomb Raider” and her three TV series to keep from being dismissed as a complete unknown. Well, at least they didn’t cast Tara Reid.

  21. David Poland says:

    J-Mc… yes, there is a word for that… J-Mc.
    And Mel is correct… no shot at Scarlett’s physical weight… no obsession with Ms. Weisz’ pregancy… other than to point out it made her unhireable for a movie that is starting production shortly and must be out by Christmas.

  22. David Poland says:

    I didn’t remember that Jolie is pregnant. I really try not to pay attention to the tabloids. My mistake.

  23. grandcosmo says:

    If they couldn’t get Johansson at least Eva Green has a great rack herself.
    I thought Green was rather mannered and charmless in “The Dreamers” but she was certainly sexy which is really the only thing she will be called on to do in the new Bond film.

  24. jeffmcm says:

    Hey, DP: what’s the word? If it’s dirty you can spell it out for me so the sensitive ones can’t pick it up.

  25. James Leer says:

    If Eva Green is now “unlikely to ever be taken seriously again” for accepting this role, then why is Scarlett Johansson the biggest loser for turning it down? I’m not understanding your career advice here.

  26. Sam says:

    This talk of the career opportunities in being a Bond girl is weird. The “Bond girl curse” is infamous. Being a Bond girl has NEVER been a wise career-building move. Not ever. Already-established actresses have survived unscathed (Diana Rigg, Jill St. John, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher, Denise Richards, and Halle Berry) — but the only two then-unknown Bond girls to have a comparable career afterward were Ursula Andress and Jane Seymour.
    The situation has slightly improved since Brosnan — Famke Janssen is not a star, but she’s getting work.
    But tell me where the careers of Eunice Gayson, Daniela Bianchi, Aliza Gur, Martine Beswicke, Margaret Nolan, Shirley Eaton (the iconic golden girl), Tania Mallet, Honor Blackman, Molly Peters, Claudine Auger, Tsai Chin, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Angela Scoular, Catherine Schell, Lana Wood, Madeline Smith, Maud Adams, Carmen du Sautoy, Britt Ekland, Sue Vanner, Olga Bisera, Barbara Bach, Corinne Clery, Lois Chiles, Emily Bolton, Carole Bouquet, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Cassandra Harris, Kristina Wayborn, Mary Stavin, Tanya Roberts, Fiona Fullerton, Kell Tyler, Maryam d’Abo, Talisa Soto, Carey Lowell, Serena Gordon, Izabella Scorupco, Cecilie Thomsen, Serena Scott, Rachel Grant, and Rosamund Pike are today?
    Scarlett probably would have been unharmed as a Bond girl, but it’s hard to make the case that it would have helped her career — or anybody else’s.

  27. Sam says:

    By “NEVER, not ever,” I of course mean, “except for Andress, Seymour, and probably Yeoh.” Unbreakable heuristics are like that.

  28. James Leer says:

    Well, Carey Lowell was a big TV star on “Law & Order” in the 90’s, and Rosamund Pike is doing fine right now. I definitely see your point, but how many of the women you listed are a) American and b) authentically great actresses? Because I’d argue that those two things have more of an effect on a Hollywood career than being a Bond girl.

  29. Cadavra says:

    Must be some other Tanya Roberts who’s been on “That ’70s Show” the past eight years.

  30. PandaBear says:

    I wouldn’t exactly call Carey Lowell a big star on “Law And Order”.
    Why wasn’t Keira Knightley up for this role? Young, great looking, got the chops.

  31. jeffmcm says:

    Tanya Roberts being on That 70s Show was stunt casting based on her early-career choices. Not because she’s really a great comic actress on the level of Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp (and Roberts was only on the show for 3 seasons, not 8).

  32. David Poland says:

    The goal with this Bind film was to redefine the female role as more equal to Bond. That is why they were approaching higher profile actresses.
    In a case like Johnasson, unlike all the other Bond girls listed above, there is a career and a degree of respect going in. As I understood teh role, it would have been more than being a pretty girl being dragged along.
    On the other hand, an actress in her third film, with no real persona established, does seem nearly doomed by being a Bond girl.

  33. jeffmcm says:

    Wasn’t that their plan with Halle Berry in the last film, too?
    I hate when filmmaking decisions are based on demographic concerns, like here, to make Bond more appealing to females.

  34. Sam says:

    That was exactly the plan with Halle Berry in the last film. The whole movement to redefine Bond girls as strong characters in their own right is another thing that people have a collective amnesia about each time around.
    It started in earnest with Goldeneye, although it might have been earlier, when I wasn’t paying as much attention. Both Scorupco and Janssen, in promoting the movie, talked about how the revitalization of the franchise, the bringing of Bond into the 90s, would include a shifting in the role of the Bond girls. Now, instead of submissive playthings, the Bond girls would be strong and independent characters.
    Then, as if Goldeneye never happened, two years later the same story was being sold about Michelle Yeoh, an action heroine who would match Bond, stunt for stunt. Then Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards got the same marketing angle, and then Halle Berry did.
    So now the marketing angle is STILL to redefine the Bond girls as Bond’s equals? Did the previous attempts fail, or do we really have such short memories?
    Personally, I can’t wait for the Bond film queued up to follow Casino Royale. I’ve been hearing rumors of a Wonder Woman tie-in.

  35. Terence D says:

    A Wonder Woman tie in? They finally going to make that movie already?

  36. Bruce says:

    A good story on AICN about the nut job, wacko fans of Bond trying to get rid of Daniel Craig.
    http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22541
    Moriarty is right. These fans don’t have their priorities in the right place. It’s the producers who are the main problem here.

  37. Yodas Nut Sac says:

    I was anti Craig at first.
    Mainly because I had no clue who the hell he was. Only saw him in ROAD TO PERDITION. Let’s just say he wasn’t Bond caliber playing a wussy in that.
    But I saw LAYER CAKE and MUNICH and I think he’ll be a good Bond. Different Bond. A more street quality Bond. The change will be good for the franchise.

  38. KamikazeCamelV2.0 says:

    I like Eva Green as a Bond girl because she’s not widely known. I’d feel bad a semi-well known actress took the part and ended up going down the road to where-are-they-now type series stardom.
    At least if Eva is never heard from again it’s not huge loss. However, i did like her in The Dreamers and thought after Edward Norton, she was the best thing in Kingdom of the Heaven (a very bad movie). I don’t know if I’m even interested in seeing the director’s cut i hated the theatrical release so much.

  39. Rufus Masters says:

    They’re not going to get many established actresses to play second fiddle to Bond. Might as well take a shot on a future star.
    I’ve heard enough about the talk of making the females equal to Bond. But that can’t happen if they want to continue the franchise and make the cash they do now. People want Bond. Not some fake Bond. We want martini drinking, card playing, girl playing, Bond.

  40. Cadavra says:

    Rufus, those two concepts aren’t mutually exclusive. Bond can still swill martinis, play cards and boff the babes, while the dame can be just as tough as he is. It’s worked before (Honor Blackman and Michelle Yeoh, to name two), so no reason why it can’t continue to do so as needed.

  41. Yodas Left Nut Sac says:

    Who watches a Bond movie for the girls acting?
    We watch for the female assets. No one remembers the acting. We remember the names.
    Pussy Galore. That’s enough for me!

  42. Angelus21 says:

    I read in the papers everyday about what Daniel Craig does wrong as Bond.
    One day it was he got his front teeth knocked out by a henchman during a fight scene.
    The next day he couldn’t drive the new badass Aston Martin because he can’t drive a manual car.
    Next we’ll hear how he lost his shirt gambling and got dumped by girlfriend.

  43. waterbucket says:

    I love Daniel Craig and don’t know why the die hard Bond fans are so mad at him.
    To me, he’s easily darker and sexier than the other Bonds except maybe Sean Connery. Pierce Brosnan was very handsome but I didn’t believe him to be tough.

  44. Mark Ziegler says:

    Craig will be a good Bond. He’s a good actor. Underrated. He can play tough and firm. Just see “Layer Cake” for an example.
    They finally thought out of the box with casting here. Maybe it’s because they got turned down by everyone under the sun.

  45. Bruce says:

    The only other guy worth it would have been Clive Owen. And he was never doing it. All the other guys are way too young to play the role.

  46. Yodas Left Nut Sac says:

    Craig is taking a pounding but he has one big supporter.
    Roger Moore himself.
    http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/23/D8FUV7GG4.html

  47. waterbucket says:

    What is up with the increasingly graphic screen name? lol
    What’s next? Yodas Schwetty Left Nut Sac?

  48. Yodas Left Nut Sac says:

    You have to respect each one. The left one, whose name is Dr. Kenneth Noisewater, was bugging me for some attention.
    It must be given.

  49. waterbucket says:

    Haha, so what do you call the right one, is it called Mr. David Poland?

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

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And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

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