Idris Elba: The Next Bond?
Daniel Craig will be Bond in the next movie that is confirmed. Apparently, the owners of the franchise had to offer Mr Craig an enormous sum of money for Craig to reprise his role as the suave, sophisticated British spy.
The rumour mill, however, has been going into overdrive as to who will replace Daniel Craig when he hangs up his licence to kill. One British actor, in particular, has been attracting attention as to whether he will be the next Bond. That is Idris Elba when he recently Tweeted "The names Elba, Idris Elba".
On a BBC interview, last night about Elba's move into directing a movie called 'Yardie' Elba didn't want to discuss talk of him playing Bond. So what can that mean? Either he has been offered the role and has been told not to talk about it or he is fed up of being asked about it.
Either way, because he did not say a definite yes or no the media has started speculating. Looking for any juicy gossip that might confirm or deny the rumours of Elba being the next Bond.
Certainly, Idris Elba has proved he can act whether it be in 'Luther' or playing Mandela or in 'Prometheus'. He is also a DJ, musician and rapper and right now as stated earlier he is trying his hand behind the camera. Elba would no doubt make the role of Bond his own as have other actors before him.
Other actors who have been touted to be Bond are Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance.
Other Actors who have been rumoured to be in the running for Bond.
Should Bond be black?
When Ian Fleming created James Bond the character was described as a white man with dark hair and a scar on his face. He was a womanising, drinking, upper-class Englishman who loved fast cars. Fleming based Bond on the SOE operatives in WWII who operated behind enemy lines in Europe. Fleming also had experience of the intelligence service and Bond was probably Fleming's alter ego.
From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig each actor has brought their own take on Bond. Admittedly all the Bond actors have looked different some with dark hair others with fair hair and some blue or brown eyes. But they have been European looking sticking to the physical features of Bond's character as described in the books.
However, as I have said while there is nothing wrong with Idris Elba playing Bond are we being true to the book? Do we want a black Bond just because it is politically correct to do so just because we want equality?
I think we should not tamper with Bond being a white character and that goes for all fictional characters or from history who are white. If a character from fiction or history is white they should be played by a white man - end of. Not because it's racist but because the race of the character is white. Black actors should play black roles either from fiction or history because that is accurate.
If the argument goes that a black man can play Bond then it should be allowed for a white man to play a black role. Also making Bond a female just because it's the politically correct thing to do is also ridiculous. There are many strong female characters out there who have been played and are being played by superb female actors.
So my advice for what it's worth is please don't tamper with fictional or factual characters when auditioning actors for roles especially when it comes to race or gender.
