Weighing in on who should fill Daniel Craig's shoes after he gives up his role as the 007 agent, the former Bond girl urges producers to refer back to Ian Fleming's description in the books.
- April 13, 2019
AceShowbiz - Former Bond girl Joanna Lumley has urged 007 producers to find an actor who closely resembles Ian Fleming's literary superspy when Daniel Craig gives up his movie license to kill.
Craig's next Bond film is expected to be his last and fans have started speculating over who should fill his shoes, with Idris Elba, James Norton and Tom Hardy among the favourites, but actress Lumley, who played The English Girl in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", thinks franchise bosses should return to Fleming's books for inspiration.
"I did a documentary about Ian Fleming and read a lot of what he wrote," she said at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival on Friday, April 12. "He actually describes James Bond, and I think that one has got to pay some respect to the character. He took great trouble to say what James Bond looked like."
"I think he was good looking but not dazzling and he had cold eyes and quite a hard face and you think, 'How interesting, why are we looking at beauty boys with big muscles? He was a thin, cold man with a hard face? That's interesting. Why have we lost sight of that, trying to make him into a luscious hero?".
The "Absolutely Fabulous" star thinks Tom Hiddleston, another fan favourite, most closely resembles Fleming's 007.
"I always thought Tom Hiddleston would be brilliant after 'The Night Manager'," she added. "I thought that boy could do it, with his thin, cold face. I said that to Tom. But it's not up to me; it's up to (producer) Barbara Broccoli."
