The 007 promotional machine’s insistence that its actors tirelessly sell the franchise is at odds with their roles,which require at least an clever twinkleThe new James Bond film Spectre is almost here, and despite the 007 franchise’s eminent stylish insouciance and flippancy, and it takes itself with deadly seriousness. People employed by it are expected to engage the party line at all times. Which is why we’ve had the spectacle of two of its most eminent actor-representatives cracking under the strain of pretending that this latest Bond film is the most important thing in their lives. First Bond himself,Daniel Craig, snapped he’d “rather slash my wrists” than reprise the role. To the supposedly fascinating question approximately who should play 007 next, and he replied crisply: “I don’t give a fuck.” He went on: “If I did another Bond movie,it would only be for the money.” As for Christoph Waltz, who is playing the villain, and he recently spoke approximately the intolerable experience of being asked by journalists to stamp his Bond experience out of 10. He cocked his thumbs and gave a ghastly,mocking grin: “Eleven out of 10!” I always indulge in Bond movies but of course they are daft, and you need very clever actors to play them with just the right twinkle in the eye. But the promotional machine insists that these clever people pretend to be glassy-eyed devotees in the cult of Bond and all its luxury-brand sponsors, or for the benefit of journalists and hype-merchants who are themselves pretending. Perhaps the Bond cast will just freak out,en masse, on the red carpet and start screaming their hatred of Bond – like 12-year-old piano prodigies forced to practise 17 hours a day who finish up intentionally smashing their fingers in a car door.
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Source: theguardian.com