Daniel Craig hasn’t actually played James Bond in three-and-a-half years, having wrapped up his last day of shooting his swan song, No Time to Die, back in 2019, months before the pandemic ruined everything. We still don’t know who will replace him. (Though rumor is it might be a certain former Kick-Ass star.) The search to follow Pierce Brosnan was a big deal, too, and though it eventually went to an incredibly respected actor, there was another acclaimed thespian from the U.K. who auditioned — and, he believes, blew it by cracking a silly joke.
Matthew Rhys — who went on to a perfect vaunted career himself — recently spoke to The Times of London (as caught by Deadline), where he looked back on his days pre-The Americans. One fun anecdote (apart from playing one of the killers on the final-ever Columbo) was trying out for 007 in the mid-aughts.
“Very intimidating,” is how he described the experience. “We were just told to wear a dark suit and read Casino Royale.”
As such, he was caught off-guard when they hit him with a surprise question: What would he do differently from past Bonds?
“I just remember going, ‘Ah.’ I was so not anticipating that question,” Rhys recalled. “And then I was like, is it a trick question? Are they waiting for people to go, ‘I wouldn’t do anything. He’s perfect’?”
He also didn’t think he should say, “Oh, it’s been a bit one-note for a few decades, hasn’t it? I think we can drop the misogynistic jokes,” so he tried a joke. “I’d give him a limp. I said, ‘Limp?’ Nothing. ‘Eye patch?’ Nothing.”
Rhys didn’t reveal what exactly he said (unless he just said “Ah”). But whatever his reply was, it was clearly insufficient. He imagined Craig coming in after him and replying, simply, “Gritty Reboot? Job done.”
So you didn’t get Matthew Rhys having his nuts hit with a big metal ball by baddie Mads Mikkelsen. But you did get him rebooting Perry Mason and battling a bear high on cocaine.
(Via Deadline)