32 Comments

• 1. Kristina replies at 27th January 2006, 1:45 pm :

  Look, it’s not like a Bond girl has to be Oscar caliber. Hell, Teri Hatcher in Tomorrow Never Dies wasn’t very memorable, but they cast her in it anyway. All she has to do is stand there, look hot, and fuck Bond. That’s it.

• 2. John Campea replies at 27th January 2006, 1:51 pm :

  Kristina raises a good point :)

• 3. Triflic replies at 27th January 2006, 2:15 pm :

  “What a huge, massive and stupid mistake. The producers of the new James Bond film, Casino Royale, have cast one of the worst actresses I’ve seen in a LONG time as the new Bond girl… ”

  Denise Richards.

  Thandie is a step up from that talking barbie doll.

• 4. Steve replies at 27th January 2006, 2:43 pm :

  C’mon don’t be harsh John, she wasn’t that bad in Crash. As Kristina says it won’t take much to live up to some of the previous Bond girls. Plas it looks like their choices were limited. Sounds like they wanted a “name” but couldn’t get one. She’s almost a name.

• 5. Kristina replies at 27th January 2006, 2:53 pm :

  Most “name” actresses won’t be caught dead in this franchise because, really, there’s no real character arc for a Bond girl. There’s nothing for an actress to do in these movies. It would be a step backward for an established actress to appear in a movie like Bond. Bond movies are for B and C list actresses who need a boost, not for a Charlize or an Angelina. I’d be VERY surprised to see someone like that in a Bond movie.

• 6. Cole replies at 27th January 2006, 4:21 pm :

  I thought bad acting was a requirement for bond girls. She should fit in just fine.

  As for how this affects the movie. Bad move. They already cast a bond that nobody cares about. They’re screwing with the franchise. And now they cast a girl that nobody gives a crap about. At least if it was Charlize Theron or Jolie then they can grab customers but now there just isn’t a reason to watch.

• 7. Simone replies at 27th January 2006, 4:46 pm :

  I know somebody who will be extremely happy with this news. Te he he

• 8. adam replies at 27th January 2006, 5:01 pm :

  My lust for Thandie Newton must blind me to her supposed horrible acting. I don’t think she’s THAT bad. She’s not great but I wouldn’t go out of my way to tell people about it.

• 9. JohnLane replies at 27th January 2006, 5:17 pm :

  Your comments are not even based on fact. She was great in Crash (she has a BAFTA nom to prove it) and she was good in MI:2. The role might not have been that great, but it was just an action movie about testosterone and motorcycles and within that format she was FANTASTIC. She was natural and said her lines with comfort and ease, and she was SEXY and memorable. That’s what the part called for and that’s what she delivered.

  You sound like you’re either a bit jealous of her or like you have other issues that are certainly not related to her performance.

  Besides, the Casino Royale producers could have done worse. They could have chosen that chick that from Troy that slept with Brad Pitt but otherwise was completely useless and utterly forgettable.

• 10. John Campea replies at 27th January 2006, 5:27 pm :

  Hey there JohnLane,

  Well obviously my opinon of her is not based on FACT. It’s based on opinion… as is yours. Your positive view of her is not based on FACT either. It’s opinion. And you’re entitled to yours.

  Unless we’re talking about hard box office numbers, or a cast list… it’s all about opinion. As as you know… this is the official home of correct movie opinions.

  :)

• 11. Simone replies at 27th January 2006, 5:40 pm :

  Did you mean Rose Byrne, JohnLane? ;-)

  Speaking of Thandie, was she any good in “Chronicles of Riddick”?

• 12. alfredo replies at 27th January 2006, 5:48 pm :

  No one has mentioned, she’s too ugly to be a Bond girl.

• 13. gdfgdfg replies at 27th January 2006, 5:51 pm :

  Writer of this is obviously on crack…

  Agelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and other people mentioned are complete vomit compared to her and she much better choice than any of them….

  this was funny… thanks for the laugh..

• 14. Mark replies at 27th January 2006, 6:33 pm :

  I thought she was great in crash. i havn’t seen her in anything else but i was quite impressed with her performance in Crash.

• 15. JohnLane replies at 27th January 2006, 10:46 pm :

  Ah, you’re so-called opinion fails to take into account the critical acclaim for most of her performances and the several nominations for her acting. That was the point of my original post. :)

  Yes, Rose Bryne is whom I meant. She was totally forgettable in Troy. I had to see a few pictures of her on the Internet to remember that she was the one who was half-naked with Pitt. Yet, despite the lack of clothing and role beside Pitt, most people still didn’t get that excited about her.

  At least Newton is considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world by Stuff and AskMen.

  And I don’t think that anyone was that great in the Chronicles of Riddick which is one of the reasons why the movie failed.;)

  However, Newton did a good job with the Lady MacBeth aspect of her character and the scene where talks about the “demise” of the Necromonger leader on the throne was great.

• 16. darren seeley replies at 27th January 2006, 11:02 pm :

  Thandie is dull and boring.

  She was dull in MI:2.

  She was dull in Riddick.

  She was really dull and boring in ‘Truth About Charlie’.

  ‘Crash’? Okay. But even Jennifer Espisito and Sandra Bullock were good. Think it over.

  I think Jen’s hot and Sandy is high spirited. How much trash have these gals been in until ‘Crash’?

  Why didn’t the Bond folks consider:

  Leonor Varela?

  Diane Kruger?

  Sanntha Lathan?

  Patricia Velasquez?

  Rosario Dawson?

• 17. Steve Risk replies at 28th January 2006, 12:13 am :

  Thandie Newton, dull, boring, not attractive and a bad actress???

  Okay that’s your opinion. I mean there are people who find Scarlett Johansson and Angelina Jolie to be ugly too. But, just like you guys, those people are in the MINORITY.

  Newton is HOT. Educated and talented. After all, this is a woman who graduated with Honors from Cambridge University and earned a dance scholarship to one of England’s premier Arts schools at the age of 10.

  I think that Rose Bryne is cute, but she’s no raving beauty. If I had to go for a brunette in Bryne’s age range then I would have gone for Jordana Brewster.

  Varela, Dawson, and Valesquez are cute but not really stunning. Besides, the woman in lead role of CR has to have a British accent because she is a fellow agent at MI5.

  Diane Kruger is cute, but she’s already committed to several other projects.

  Honestly, Newton is sophisticated, stunningly attractive, (I once heard her described as “astoundingly beautiful”), agile, has experience with action films and is a good actress.

  The CR producers did a good job, IMO, if this news is true.

• 18. Soap replies at 28th January 2006, 5:13 am :

  Diane Kruger? Oh my god. That chick has no charisma what so ever. Choosing her would be about a 100xworse than having Thandie. Thandie is usually bad but she was great in Crash, so I’m willing to wait and see her performance.

  But Diane Kruger? Oh, come on. She has been absolute rubbish in every single movie she has been in.

• 19. Lou_Sytsma replies at 28th January 2006, 8:26 am :

  Thandie may not be good but if there is ever an actress I see on screen that instantly makes me want to insert my penis into, she’s the one.

• 20. Fredo Teabaggins replies at 28th January 2006, 12:17 pm :

  Yeah, I’d agree with the comments from other posters who say John is way off base on this one. I don’t think Thandie is the best actress in the world, but I wasn’t dry heaving at any of the films John mentioned. That’s emotion speaking, not logic. If you’re going to go that distance, John, give us specific reasons why - and, even better, compare it to something. That’s what critics do.

• 21. Russell replies at 28th January 2006, 12:41 pm :

  I dare not state my opinion on this on because obviously deciding on if this girl is hot is very important to some and deciding if she is a “enjoyable” actress seems to be pretty important too. But “your so-called opinion” is the funniest thing I have read in a while, not to be mean or anything but it just sounded a little silly.

  Oh well I might as well say my two cents on this since it is the topic of the day.

  Acting- not so good I mean better than me but not that good.

  Hot- yeah I guess but not that hot compared to other actress

• 22. Morbius replies at 28th January 2006, 2:30 pm :

  Simone you are correct somebody is extremely happy at this news. :-) Is this offical? I saw a Sun headline a couple of days ago that referred to her as a “Bond Girl” but I could find nothing to verify it?

  I am surprised at this casting though, not because I have any problems with her acting but due to the fact that she already had such a large role in MI2 which is essentially a rival franchise.

• 23. P replies at 29th January 2006, 11:13 am :

  I saw TN in Mission Impossible 2, and she didn’t strike me as being as bad as you’re making her out to be.

• 24. in-be-tween replies at 30th January 2006, 12:50 am :

  Yes, John you are entitled to your opinion; but the obvious conclusion to draw from your opinion is that you should not be entitled to compensation for your opinion. What I am saying just to make sure you understand is that you exhibit none of the characteristics of someone who knows anything valuable about film. You are, quite obviously, not capable of appreciating film as art, and only as candy floss, bang for your buck, titilating entertainment.

  Your accusation that Thandie Newton has no acting talent flies in the face of both my good judgement and that of many critics who look at film as an art form. Indeed, one really cannot comment on the acting ability of a given thespian unless one believes that film is an art form, dedicated to revealing truths about our lives and conveying messages in a form which emotionally touches the viewer. You do not demonstrate any of the necessarry emotional or intellectual characteristics to criticize film in this way.

  So I suggest you limit your conversation and opinions about film to the domain of special FX, stunts, sex and violence. This would give you good reason to argue that “Tom Raider” was a great film and that Angelina Jolie’s performance therein was amazing.

  The rest of us cinephiles will continues to support Thandie’s career even though she chooses to appear in mindless drivel like the latest Bond feature and MI:2. We will remember her stunning performances in Crash and Beloved, and we will hope to see more Oscar-worthy work from this actress.

• 25. Lambykins replies at 30th January 2006, 1:07 am :

  Although I agree with the majority in that Thandie is an awful actress, and I even agree with some of the comments that a Bond-girl need not be a talented actress, my biggest gripe comes from the fact that her first memorable role was opposite Tom “couch-jumping” Cruise in that quasi-spy flick MI2 in which she already played a part similar to that of the typical Bond-girl. Someone else deserves this role. My picks would include Shannyn Sossamon, Tiffanie-Amber-Thiesen or Jessica Biel

• 26. pablo replies at 30th January 2006, 6:45 am :

  I don’t think shes that bad(or that good), but when has any bond girl performed any role other than support staff for the bond actor?

  The entire franchise is about JAMES BOND. thats the point. i don’t want a oscar-styled actress hogging screen time to detract from the james bond, infact the crapper the actress the better. Denise richards was one of the best(because she was so bad) bond girls.

  so heres hoping they hire this girl and her acting is rubbish.

• 27. G replies at 30th January 2006, 2:28 pm :

  Has anyone even LOOKED at Thandie Newton lately? She’s ANOREXIC!!! Check her pictures from the SAG Awards…she’s skin and bones…not only does she not look sexy anymore (she did when she had a little meat on her body), she is in real jeopardy of getting seriously injured if she’s to do any stunts in the new Bond movie. My vote would have to go for someone like Michelle Rodriguez, Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order-SVU), Jessica Alba, Tiffanie Amber Theissen…

• 28. geena replies at 30th January 2006, 4:39 pm :

  Shee-it… Thandie musta farked da right white boy.

• 29. Alexander replies at 31st January 2006, 2:16 pm :

  Thandie is good enough in looks and acting to pull of this role in Casino. Her looks could be easily debated and rely on opinion alone, but when it comes to acting the “measurement” is different. Has anyone tried looking at most of her reviews for her acting -they have been consently favorable to her. These favorable reviews have come from different sources and for different movies and out number the bad reviews that she may have gotten for her acting. With that said, there is some facts that can back up the quality of her acting- unfortnately the quality of movies that she has been in or made available to her have not been on the same level. This would only open up another can of worms. Attractiveness - opinion based-I find her to be enchanting based her looks, acting and background. Acting-opinion based but with factual back-up - her performances have garnered favorable reviews. This role in Casino- well lets see what happens when the movie opens-but a bond girl-i’m sure she has what it takes to match the requirments for a bond girl.

• 30. James replies at 31st January 2006, 4:16 pm :

  At least she’s not Angelina Jolie. I can’t see any chemistry between big-lipped Jolie and Daniel Craig.

  And since when does being a Bond girl means that you have to be a talented actress? Except for Diana Rigg, Famke Jenssen, and Michelle Yeoh, the majority of Bond girls were cast because of their looks. Or I guess you can say they were cast for their ‘talents’.

• 31. Tee replies at 31st January 2006, 7:51 pm :

  Thandie is a bad actress? Puh-lease!! What she will undoubtedly bring to the movie is class, beauty and talent. Thandie has never given a poor performance in any movie. She has received critical acclaim for several of her performances. Something tells me that what bugs the lot of you is that she is not some blonde bimbo with huge fake boobs. Had they given the role to somebody like Pamela Anderson, you probably wouldn’t be complaining. Losers!

• 32. Kristina replies at 1st February 2006, 8:45 pm :

  Now, word is that Thandie has NOT been cast. They’re saying that Rachel McAdams is now in the running. I LOVE her, but she is NO Bond girl. That’s like getting Julia Roberts as a Bond girl.