Actor Ralph Fiennes was delighted at the prospect of becoming the new M in the James Bond franchise with 2012’s “Skyfall,” but the actor has revealed that for the 2015 follow-up film “Specter,” the character almost became. in the iconic franchise. the villain Blofeld.
Fiennes succeeded Judi Dench in the role of M in “Skyfall,” who discovered that Dench’s version of the character was killed by Javier Bardem’s villain, Raoul Silva. But by the time director Sam Mendes agreed to return to direct the sequel, the Bond franchise had now regained the rights to use the villain organization known as SPECTER and, with it, the franchise’s most iconic antagonist, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Fiennes said in Happy, Sad, and Confused Podcast by Josh Horowitz who found the original release of “Skyfall” compelling. “Sam Mendes, as we know, directed ‘Skyfall’ and the pitch was very attractive at the time,” noted Fiennes, explaining how he got to be part of the franchise in the first place. “Judi Dench’s M dies and you’re set up as the next M, and I thought it was great. I also loved Daniel’s Bond and just respected Sam’s intelligence, his approach, and what he was doing with him. ‘Skyfall’ was a great script. “
But Fiennes later revealed that he had to have some “intense” discussions with Oscar-winning filmmaker “American Beauty” when it came to the M arc in the next film. “I think I can say now that I had to fight Sam’s attempt on ‘Specter’ to do M – I said I don’t want to play M and then you turn around and make him the bad guy. M is never the bad guy. So I had to have some pretty intense discussions with Sam saying, ‘This is not right for me …’ It was like it was Blofeld or something, but that was a red line. “
It is eventually revealed that Christoph Waltz’s mysterious character in “Specter” is Blofeld, and the film’s script went through numerous iterations, as revealed during the Sony hack. Ultimately, the script was attributed to John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth, but in the early days it was Mendes and Logan who talked about what the story of “Specter” would be, which is where the M twist came in. like Blofeld. play.
Fiennes had a reason to fight for what he felt was right for M, as he revealed on the podcast that he was a huge Bond fan growing up, and that he had previously had a discussion with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli about performing. Bond himself. In the end, however, Fiennes confessed that he didn’t think he was suitable for the role. “I’m not sure I was very good at Bond,” Fiennes said. “I really liked books when I was a teenager. I like movies, particularly the earlier Connery movies. I had a teenage obsession with Bond, so when that day came, of course I was flattered. “
The actor later said that as a fan of the books, he was hopeful that the franchise would once again have a rough and violent turn on the franchise after the frivolity of the Roger Moore era. “I mean, I think they tried to do this to a point where Daniel came into the franchise, I mean, they went back to ‘Casino Royale’ and they felt a bit humbled … by the way the movies evolved throughout. from the 70s, 80s and 90s. It got funny, weird. Roger Moore was very entertaining. But they drifted further and further away from the rather dark, slightly acidic and dangerous night world of books and the flint-minded, difficult and slightly Bond elitist. I mean [he was] highly individual and had his views, quite stubborn … would probably cancel a million times, the book link. “
Fiennes continued, adding that prior to Craig’s grounded and realistic “Casino Royale,” he expected to see the franchise go further in that direction. “I figured there could be a movie world that would be set in the 50’s, that you would do ‘Casino Royale’ right in the 50’s and it would be dark, but it would be really difficult and you’d be pretty brave with the violence in it and you wouldn’t apologize for sex in him. Then it would be quite difficult and it would be quite old, like the books. Are they older? Maybe not (laughs) “.
Fiennes reprized his role as M in Craig’s latest Bond film, “No Time to Die,” which finally opened this year and has grossed more than $ 770 million worldwide. The actor is currently leading his own spy action franchise as the star of Matthew Vaughn’s R-rated prequel, set in World War I, “The King’s Man,” currently screening exclusively in theaters.
Reference-www.thewrap.com
