Matthew Goode, who’s currently starring in the Netflix detective show Dept. Q, recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to chat about his new role and his long acting career.
Wearing a backwards cap, Goode cleared up a common story he never actually auditioned to play James Bond. Instead, he met with Barbara Broccoli, the main producer behind the 007 movies. When asked about his take on Bond, Goode said he wanted to make the character closer to how he is in the original books: an alcoholic, a drug addict, full of self-hate, brilliant at killing, and in deep pain. By the end of the meeting, Broccoli didn’t seem too interested. Goode joked he probably should have added that Bond would also still be incredibly charming.
In the end, the role went to Daniel Craig, whose version was darker than older movie Bonds (like Roger Moore’s), but still not as troubled as Ian Fleming’s original character. In the books, Bond drank heavily, smoked up to 70 cigarettes a day, took amphetamines, and was described as looking more like songwriter Hoagy Carmichael than a movie star like Sean Connery.
Interestingly, the next Bond movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, known for Dune, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 so there’s a chance we might see a grittier 007 after all.
