Danny Boyle Says Jack O’Connell Should Be the Next James Bond

Danny Boyle has weighed in on the continuing search for the next James Bond, and he already knows who he’d like to see pick up the Walther PPK… Jack O’Connell.

While attending the Zurich Film Festival to present Ink, Boyle was asked about the future of 007 and offered a very direct casting suggestion. “They should cast Jack O’Connell as Bond,” he said.

O’Connell is a great actor, and I could absolutely see why Boyle would want him for the role. He has the intensity, physical presence, charisma, and edge needed to play Bond. Still, I think there’s another part in the 007 universe that could be even more interesting for him. I’d like to see him as the villain!

Give O’Connell a great Bond villain to sink his teeth into and let him go for it. That’s what I’d like to see! He can be incredibly charismatic while also bringing an unpredictable menace to a character, and putting him opposite the new Bond could make for a fantastic dynamic.

Boyle certainly knows what O’Connell can do. The director cast him as Larry Lamb in Ink, a biographical drama adapted by James Graham from his stage play. The story follows Lamb as he accepts an offer from Rupert Murdoch, played by Guy Pearce, to become editor of The Sun newspaper.

Boyle also pointed to O’Connell’s performance in Back to Black as an example of the actor’s ability to handle a difficult character. “Have you seen ‘Back to Black’? It’s a wonderful film. He plays the boyfriend and that’s an impossible part. It was an incredible performance.”

That performance helped convince Boyle that O’Connell was right for Ink. “I thought he should play Larry Lamb, because he’s weird. Despite the fact that he’s playing a monster, you’re still interested in him. You’re still intrigued by him and he doesn’t repel you.

“It was true of the guy in ‘Ink,’ because by the end of the film, his moral conscience – if there ever was one – has dissolved entirely as he pursues success. And you still have to root for him.”

Boyle compared that quality to Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II, saying: “I used to say it’s the same as Al Pacino at the end of ‘The Godfather Part II,’ when he has ordered the murder of his brother, and yet you’re still intrigued by Pacino just sitting there all alone.”

That ability to keep an audience interested in a morally ugly character is exactly why I think O’Connell could make such a cool Bond villain.

Boyle also has his own history with 007. He was originally attached to direct No Time to Die and developed a story with John Hodge before leaving the project amid creative differences with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, as well as Bond star Daniel Craig.

He sahred: “When they asked me to do Bond, we came up with the story [with John Hodge] and they lost confidence in it. It’s a shame, because it could have been really good.”

The next Bond movie is now in the hands of Denis Villeneuve, and Boyle seems pretty happy with that choice, saying: “Villeneuve is amazing. Did you see that beginning of [‘Dune: Part Three’], which they showed before ‘The Odyssey’?

“God, if I was directing ‘The Odyssey,’ I would have thought everybody would be disappointed in my film following it. But obviously, Chris Nolan has more confidence than I have.”

O’Connell as James Bond would certainly be interesting, and he has the acting chops to bring something different to 007. But I keep coming back to the possibility of seeing him on the opposite side of the table.

Cast a great new Bond, then give Jack O’Connell a mean, charismatic, complicated villain to play against him. That sounds a lot more exciting to me.

Via: Variety