It’s still going to be some time before the James Bond movies find a new face to present to the public. The scrum of actors looking to test for this role of a lifetime is beginning to comment to the press just what their 00-hopes and dreams would look like. Asteroid City’s Rupert Friend is one of the latest potential candidates to do so, and in a recent chat, he shared with me what his ideal portrayal of 007 would feel like.
Meanwhile, his co-star and Bond veteran Jeffrey Wright has told us why he’s excited for Friend to potentially land the role, and both of these men have me even more excited for the future.
How Rupert Friend Describes His Ideal James Bond
To be fair, this wasn’t a random question out of the blue on my end. As much as I’m a James Bond fan, I don’t go asking any actor what they think their ideal tone as 007 would be. Thanks to as a recent interview with Variety, it was revealed that Friend feels he’s ready to be considered for the role years after turning down an audition opportunity for Casino Royale.
With that knowledge, I went into the press day for Asteroid City hoping to ask the man himself what his Commander Bond would feel like. As such, here’s what Rupert Friend told CinemaBlend about his ideal image of Ian Fleming’s legendary creation:
I mean to me, it’s Connery. That’s the greatest Bond of all time. It’s somewhere between the danger and the twinkle. It’s not ham, and it’s not overly serious. It’s somewhere in the middle, and it’s as I said, danger with a twinkle. That’s…Connery just nailed it.
"Between the danger and the twinkle" is one of the best descriptions I think anyone’s ever given to Sean Connery’s James Bond movies. While he was definitely a brawler who could kill in cold blood, the man could also turn the charm on like nobody’s business. After watching Rupert Friend playing the roles of both cowboy Montana and actor Asquith Eden, a much less severe example of shifting tones is a good test for his ability to dance between those two ends of the Bond spectrum.
Friend has also shown himself ready for the action part of the equation through movies like Hitman: Agent 47 and series like Disney+'s Obi Wan Kenobi. Of course, it helps to also have someone familiar with the world of Bond to be in your corner. Lucky for Rupert, Jeffrey Wright is just that sort of person.
Why 007 Vet Jeffrey Wright Is Behind Rupert Friend’s Potential Casting
It would have been a crime not to ask Jeffrey Wright his opinion about a potential run for Rupert Friend’s 007. Serving as the Felix Leiter during the era of Daniel Craig’s James Bond movies, the Westworld star was a crucial part to the development of this most recent run of adventures.
So during that same Asteroid City press day, I asked Jeffery what he thought of Rupert’s potential as the next James Bond. With his rich experience in the franchise at the ready, along with his charming presence, Jeffrey Wright shared these thoughts with CinemaBlend about a hypothetically Friend-ly 007:
I’m down with that. Rupert’s a wonderful actor, super dashing guy. Lovely guy. [He] has a kind of trustworthiness about him. I think I’d vote for Rupert. Yeah, rock and roll.
For those of you who might be holding out hope that Wright could return as Felix Leiter for another age of 007, don’t get your hopes up. Jeffrey’s feelings about exiting after No Time To Die still hold true, as the actor joked about “the Ghost of Felix” when asked about such a prospect, followed by a reassuring “we had a good run.”
While I’ll admit I pitched those hopes into the room because of enjoying Jeffrey Wright’s “brother from Langley” so much during his time throughout the series, I can’t disagree that the run is over, and it was indeed a good one. It also frees him up for movies like Asteroid City, in which his character, General Gibson, gets one of the best moments of deadpan comedy.
You can see Rupert Friend, Jeffrey Wright and the rest of the Asteroid City cast partaking in the dryly humorous antics of Wes Anderson real soon, depending on where you are in the country. This weekend marks the picture’s New York and Los Angeles debuts, while a wider release is set for June 23rd. For all other titles on the schedule of 2023 new movie releases, you don’t have to look much further for where that information resides.
