Mark Strong says he won’t be in the upcoming James Bond movie.
The British actor insists that recent rumours about his appearance in Bond 24 are entirely false… and he won’t be playing the upcoming new Bond villain.
It’s become a bit of a mainstay of Mark Strong’s career – playing secret agents seems to have dominated his latest films. And he’s also had his fair share of villainous roles. But will Mark Strong get to combine the two in the upcoming Bond 24? The man himself is keen to deny those rumours…
Of course, it all comes from a number of photographs posted to Twitter last month, which show Mark Strong and Daniel Craig together in Morocco. And while Bond fans were quick to link Strong to a villainous role in the upcoming Bond movie, it looks as though there’s a much more innocent explanation.
“Daniel is a very good friend of mine,” he told WENN. “We’ve known each other for years and he’s a godfather to my eldest child.”
“The reason these rumours came about is because recently we went on a walking tour together in the Atlas Mountains. We took some time off to have some friend time; we hadn’t seen each other for ages. Busy schedules mean you can’t see each other and don’t see your mates for a long time. And we went walking together.”
“Someone took a picture and everybody’s come to the conclusion I must be the new bad guy in the new Bond movie!”
Of course, with Bond 24 scheduled to shoot in Morocco, it’s easy to see why fans would jump to conclusions… and I’m not entirely convinced that he won’t be appearing in some capacity. After all, this wouldn’t be the first spy film he’s been in.
“For some reason I played bad guys for a while, for a few years. I don’t quite know what’s happened but now it’s spies,” he said. “I was a spy in Body of Lies, a film I did with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio; he was the head of the Jordanian secret service. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I was a spy. In The Imitation Game, that’s coming out with Benedict Cumberbatch, I’m a spy.”
“Secret Service that I’m doing with Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth, I’m another spy. I mean, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know quite what’s happening but there’s a whole spy thing going on.”
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Bond fans might think it’s only natural for him to appear in the biggest spy franchise in film history… and with his penchant for playing the villain, it’s perhaps a natural route for him to take. Especially as it seems to be his dream role.
“I have a fascination for villains because they are way more complicated than heroes, so they are much more interesting to play,” he told the Big Issue earlier this year. “The Bond villain would be the absolute pinnacle. They are almost as important as Bond himself because your hero is only as good as your villain so you have to have a good one for the hero to be truly heroic. I’m not ruling it out. We’ll just wait and see.”
Of course, whether or not Mark Strong gets to grapple with 007 on the big screen remains to be seen. But after some stellar performances in the likes of Kick-Ass and Welcome To The Punch he’d make a great Bond villain.
But for now, we’ll have to wait and see.
Do you think Mark Strong would make a great Bond villain? Will he appear in Bond 24 alongside Daniel Craig? Let us know what you think in the comments below…
