Here We Go Again, With Hesitation. Time, Inc. Columnist. Chooses Armitage as Her Fantasy 007

 Here. Why the hesitation? Because I’ve been in these conversations before and I predict how they’ll go. Three issues are usually discussed: whether it would be a good career move; whether he would make a good Bond – not much opposition there and whether Bond is good enough for him. But hey, I saw the article, and I thought I should share.

Armitage as Bond is a topic that surfaces  with fans from time to time, usually when some photo like this is published:

source

It’s been the subject of discussion, or non-discussion, as the case may be, on and off with bloggers ( RAFrenzy, and Me and Richard, for example.  Entertainment writers get in on the game,, Tumblr is full of the idea  and there’s a web poll site to vote for the next Bond. Richard Armitage comes up first ( Ok it’s in alphabetical order).  I found a spoof/gossip site that just recently mentioned it here  ( well, that site also reported him dead). Even Richard Armitage, himself has weighed in on the question, statig that he’d prefer to be Bond villain.

U.K. Bookmakers have Armitage as Bond in their sites, ( here’s another, later spread one) . Current odds are 10 to 1 for him being cast as the next Bond, behind favorite, Idris Elba .  Reading these articles is a kick – Orlando Bloom’s odds are getting better all the time, though at least one critic described him as bland.

One  ( just one?) obstacle to Richard Armitage’s casting as Bond is his age. Some speculate that the producers want a new Bond who can film a few pictures, and at 43, Armitage maybe too old. I don’t think that should be an issue, as several actors have started as Bond at around the same age ( Pierce Brosnan) or played the role into their 50’s (Roger Moore, Sean Connery). The average age of actors playing Bond has been 43, and leading contender Idris Elba is 42. ( Which might be a reason why he might be passed over in favor of some younger actor. Orlando Bloom would not be a choice for me. He isn’t suave enough.

Anyway  everyone ages. Shouldn’t James Bond age, too?

So, why is Richard Armitage’s name so frequently paired with some new James Bond casting? I’m guessing that people think of British actors first, so that pares down the list. Looks are pretty important, and , at least for me, I like the idea of a dark-haired Bond ( Sean Connery is my model), so that’s  another tick in Richard Armitage’s column. A believable action hero is a necessity – check ( need I list Armitage’s credits here?). And, he’s got to be suave, sexy and seductive. Richard Armitage is sexy, he can be seductive (Moving On ) and in still photos, he can look suave, so  I’m going to assume that he can play suave. There’s a need for a certain wryness – those, meaningful, catchy lines have to be delivered just so. I think we’ve seen some of that in Spooks and Strike Back.

To me, the idea of Richard Armitage as James Bond is thrilling, frightening and anxiety producing.  It’s Big! Big! Big! The scripts are getting better in those films, but still, there’s not much hard acting required. It’s a big time commitment which might prevent him from taking meatier roles, and it’s another notch in his “action hero” belt, just when he’s accepted more complex roles.

And while a Bond villain might be a great opportunity, I can’t think of any special quality that sets Richard Arrnitage apart for that. I think bigger names are usually selected for the villains.