Former James Bond Names Unlikely New 007 Candidate, Fans Not Impressed
With the Bond franchise obviously about to undergo a reboot after Daniel Craig's tenure ended in No Time to Die, the obvious question on the mind of every fan is who's going to become the next Bond.
One relatively unexpected candidate was named by 83-year-old George Lazenby, who played the secret agent in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service: a fellow Australian, Liam Hemsworth.
As Lazenby said, the next actor to play Bond should be "crazy enough, arrogant enough, confident enough, ambitious enough to take on the role."
Well, Lazenby's assessment of an actor capable of playing a good Bond is correct, but whether Liam Hemsworth fits that assessment is a whole different question.
Hemsworth's biggest role so far is Gale Hawthorne in Hunger Games, in which he failed to become a fan favorite and at most could be said to have performed adequately, given his script (and limited role in the first movie).
His most recent endeavor is replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia for the fourth season of Netflix ' The Witcher. And sadly, his probably biggest claim to fame so far is being the younger brother of Chris Hemsworth ( who became one of the highest-paid actors in the world by playing Thor in the MCU ).
Serving as replacement for a much more famous actor on a series which is generally believed to floundering is not exactly a sign of confidence, ambition or arrogance. Speaking of The Witcher, the best its fans can say about Hemsworth is that the whole plan is hopeless, that few if any series have ever survived recasting of its main lead, that even a very good actor would have struggled in this situation, and that Liam Hemsworth might have been a good Geralt, had he been cast for the role from the beginning, but that he can never measure up to Cavill. And some of the popular opinions are less forgiving, like, for example, this Redditor's post:
"I've also watched all the Hunger Games and Independence Day 2. Despite ample amount of screentime and having played key characters, Liam never drew me in. I don't think he has the charisma or screen presence to be a lead."
So, as it appears, Liam Hemsworth looks like a Bond material to no one but Lazenby.