The James Bond franchise has come a long way, with 6 different actors portraying the iconic character til now, and Daniel Craig being the latest actor to portray the role of Special Agent 007. However, many fans of the age-old spy franchise believe that Pierce Brosnan is the greatest actor ever to don the role. The Irish actor became synonymous with the role and he attracted immense love and following from the fans of the franchise.
Despite playing a major role in expanding the fan base of the character, some people are just not interested in watching the greatness of Agent 007 saving the day in style; Nicolas Meyers is one of those people. Surprisingly, he could not turn down to write a gripping script for Tomorrow Never Dies after he used his contacts to land him a job in the film.
A Contact List Full of Big Names Couldn’t Convince Nicholas Meyers to Like the James Bond Franchise
Pierce Brosnan started on a good note when he was introduced as the British Secret Service Agent in 1995’s Golden Eye. Moreover, fans were drawn to the actor’s portrayal and how he brought a new version of Bond into his role. However, the quality of the films declined as Brosnan went on to helm the role for three more films.
Nicholas Meyer is known for his work in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, was never too interested in his lack of interest in the James Bond franchise and how he used his connections to land a screenwriting role in the 1997 film.
In the book, Nobody Does It Better: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of James Bond by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross via Slashfilm, Meyer talks about his lack of affection for the Bond franchise because he prefers his spy fiction to be “less cartoonish.“
He said,
I should state at the outset that I was never a fan of the James Bond franchise. I prefer my spy fiction less cartoonish, favoring Hitchcock and le Carré over Ian Fleming, therefore I cannot claim any sort of passion for the material. But I had three intimate points of contact with the film in question, which made it difficult for me to turn down the invitation to participate.
He opened up about his contact list, who were all part of the film. He added,
In no special order, they were my friend and protégé, Jeff Kleeman, who was the UA executive on the film; my friend, the star, Pierce Brosnan, who I had directed on ‘The Deceivers,‘ a Merchant Ivory production we shot together in India; and the director, my friend, Roger Spottiswoode, who is also my brother-in-law once removed (his brother is married to my sister, whom he met as the result of my longtime friendship with Roger).
Indeed, nepotism played a major role in aiding Nicholas Meyer in landing a role in the film but that does not mean he was ignorant about the franchise. The screenwriter devoted his skills to penning down one of the greatest scripts for a Bond film, but was later fired from the project.
Daniel Craig’s One Regret in His James Bond Period
After Brosnan, Daniel Craig is considered to be the better iteration of the character, helming the role for 15 years and appearing in 5 movies. Bringing a unique and grounded approach to the franchise, but some of his decisions in portraying the character backfired.
The Defiance actor was immensely frustrated on repeatedly sustaining injuries he had to sustain for the role and how he had a lot of unnecessary complaining, fans were surprised when he gave a surprising response to Time Out when asked about his return as Agent 007 before the release of Spectre. He said,
I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists.
When speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Craig acknowledged that unneeded whining overshadowed his efforts for the once-in-a-lifetime role. He said,
I’m p***ed off at myself that I ever even spoke about them. It’s my fault because I kind of didn’t shut up about the fact that I had all these injuries. The physical side of the movies was just the job. I had to do it. I trained, learned the fights, that’s kind of my brain not working. I put way more work into the creative side of those movies than I did into the physical side of those movies.
Though the actor had a ton of injuries in doing the 5 films in the franchise, he confessed that he is proud of doing these films and entertaining the audience with his performance as Special Agent 007.
Tomorrow Never Dies can be rented on AppleTV.
