Downton Abbey
star
Matthew Goode
has explained how he ruined his chance at being
James Bond
.
Speaking on the
Happy Sad Confused
podcast, Goode opened up to host Josh Horowitz about a meeting he had with
Bond
producer Barbara Broccoli.
“I didn’t audition. I went in and met Barbara,” Goode said of the producer who, along with her producing partner Michael G Wilson, relinquished creative control of the
Bond
franchise earlier this year as
Amazon MGM Studios took over
.
According to Goode, the actor told Broccoli that he wanted his version of the iconic MI6 spy to be faithful to Ian Fleming’s portrayal of the British secret agent in the original novels.
“I didn’t get to the audition,” Goode explained, adding: “But it was quite a funny one because — and she’s gorgeous and just a lovely, lovely person — she was like, ‘So what’s your idea for Bond?’
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“And I was like, ‘My idea for Bond. We’ve gotta take it back to the books, you know? Really, we absolutely have to make this guy an alcoholic, a drug addict. He hates himself. He hates women. He hates a lot of people. He’s in deep pain. He’s brilliant at killing people.'”
“I think by the end of the interview, she was like, ‘Mhmm. Next,'” quipped Goode, who added that he should have balanced his “dark” suggestion by emphasising that 007 would still be “incredibly charming”.
Daniel Craig
would eventually land the coveted role, making his debut in the 2006 film
Casino Royale
. He would appear as 007 in four further films, making his final appearance as the spy in 2021’s
No Time to Die
.
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Danny Boyle only has one regret about quitting
James Bond
movie – here’s what it is
While Goode missed out on the role of Bond, the actor recently explained why he
would not be reprising his role as Henry Talbot
in
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
, the third and final film in the series.
“I had to have an operation. That takes weeks to get over, so I was never going to be able to do it,” said the actor, who added that his schedule was then by consumed by Netflix series
Dept. Q
.
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