Naomie Harris: The Next Bond Girl?

[Blowfeld]

Admittedly we could have found a more glamorous picture.

By William Bibbiani
Jun 6th, 2011

Sources at Eon Productions have confirmed that Naomie Harris, the star of 28 Days Later, Ninja Assassin and the second two Pirates of the Caribbean movies is in talks to be the next Bond Girl in Bond 23, a film which desperately needs a new title. No word yet on the actual content of her role, but presumably she would be called upon to be attractive at some point, and either die or kick tons of ass.

Entertainment Weekly broke the story that Harris has already met with the filmmakers of Bond 23, which though long-delayed is now set to begin production shortly. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) takes the director's chair this time out, from a screenplay by John Logan (The Aviator, Rango) and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, a duo who have collaborated on the screenplays for every James Bond film since The World is Not Enough, for better or worse. Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench have each agreed to reprise their roles, and both Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem have both reportedly been offered parts in the film, with Bardem now possibly free to take the coveted villain role now that The Dark Tower has been delayed until next year.

If Naomie Harris accepts the part, she would join a grand tradition of Bond Girls that includes Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Jane Seymour, Britt Ekland, Grace Jones, Famke Janssen, Michelle Yeoh, Denise Richards, Halle Berry, Eva Green, Gemma Arterton and Olga Kurylenko. Meowzers.

Crave Online will be back with more Bond 23 news after we finish stirring these martinis.

This Story Can Be found Here

[Kristatos]

Admittedly we could have found a more glamorous picture.

Here's one:

[Blowfeld]

Admittedly we could have found a more glamorous picture.

Here's one:

[/quote
Yes...Errr...Ummm. To be perfectly fair it was the sources photo.

[Kristatos]

Yes...Errr...Ummm. To be perfectly fair it was the source's photo.

I've now fixed my previous post to reflect that.

[katied]

IMO when it comes to Bond girls it seems like a lot of (male) Bond fans, especially at the big fansites, value T&A more than actual acting ability.

[Blowfeld]

Jun 7, 2011 by Sandy Schaefer

Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3) has confirmed that she’s up for a role in the new James Bond movie, possibly that of Bond’s new ‘sexy sidekick’.

With the 23rd entry in the James Bond franchise gearing up to begin production this fall, the next few months will feature their fair share of rumored (and confirmed) casting bits for pivotal Bond roles – especially when it concerns the customary parts of the diabolical villain and Bond’s seductive female sidekick.

Recently, a rumor began circling around that actress Naomie Harris had been approached to star in the tentatively-titled James Bond 23 as the new attractive assistant to Daniel Craig’s version of the slick spy. Or, rather, that’s what a British tabloid was claiming.

However, both EW and Indiewire have since confirmed (via their own sources) what the tabloid News of the World originally reported: That Harris is being considered for a role in next year’s installment, possibly that of Bond’s “sexy sidekick”. It ought to be noted, though, that Harris has not yet confirmed whether she has (or plans to) accept said part – or if she’s actually up for another role entirely. At this point, it’s even possible she’s up for the onetime rumored female villain part in the film.

Harris has proven herself capable of playing a deadly warrior woman onscreen (see: 28 Days Later and Ninja Assassin) and is more than easy enough on the eyes to work as a lovely kick-ass Bond girl. Most U.S. moviegoers are likely familiar with Harris for her turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies – and even with all the makeup she donned for that role, Harris still made that (literal) goddess in human form a sly and seductive character. So if she does end up signing on as the new Bond gal, she could definitely make for a memorable one.

Names like Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, and Kevin Spacey have all been raised as possibilities (or were onetime candidates) to match wits with Craig in the next James Bond venture. As Screen Rant‘s Ben Moore has pointed out, all four of these critically-favored gentlemen have a background in playing genuinely creepy and unsettling serial killers onscreen – so it would seem that the main antagonist in James Bond 23 (the head of Quantum, perhaps?) will indeed be a nasty one.

Other than those villain casting rumors, there’s been little to no information released that would indicate what exactly Casino Royale/Quantum of Solace scripting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade – in collaboration with John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) – are planning to deliver with James Bond 23. The most obvious route would be to conclude the overreaching Quantum story arc from the last two Bond films, if only for the sake of closure. Also, many a fan is likely hoping to see a take on the Bond character that’s more similar to Craig’s “modernized” version of the spy presented in Casino Royale – less so to the revenge-fueled killer that he (admittedly, kind of inexplicably) devolved into over the course of Quantum of Solace.

Bond 23 is being directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition), who is best known for making arthouse fare – though he has proven to be capable of handling more action-oriented material as well (see: Jarhead). That alone puts him in a position to deliver a better Bond adventure than Quantum of Solace head honcho Marc Forster, whose lack of experience in the area of filming coherent action sequences really showed in the last Bond movie.

Expect to hear more James Bond 23 news in the near future as we approach the start of production on the film, which is slated for theatrical release in the U.S. on November 9th, 2012.

Source: News of the World, EW, Indiewire

This story can be found here: Screen Rant

[katied]

Better Harris than another Eva Green, or heaven forbid, Gemma Arterton.

[Blowfeld]

Yes...Errr...Ummm. To be perfectly fair it was the source's photo.

I've now fixed my previous post to reflect that.

It's a fair cop

[Alessandra]

I think this is just and only another groundless rumor. Like Fiennes, Hopkins and the like. RUMORS and absolutely NOTHING ELSE. Had it been true, we would have had casting news by now. But of course we haven't. So no, I don't think this is happening. And, her schedule shows she's got little to no availability anyhow. So I'm extremely dubious... I mean it may turn out to be true, you never know, but as of now I'm much more leaning toward "another useless rumor" than toward "oh actually happening". We'll see.

[Kristatos]

I think this is just and only another groundless rumor. Like Fiennes, Hopkins and the like. RUMORS and absolutely NOTHING ELSE. Had it been true, we would have had casting news by now. But of course we haven't. So no, I don't think this is happening. And, her schedule shows she's got little to no availability anyhow. So I'm extremely dubious... I mean it may turn out to be true, you never know, but as of now I'm much more leaning toward "another useless rumor" than toward "oh actually happening". We'll see.

I believe Entertainment Weekly is reporting it as confirmed, for what it's worth.

[Blowfeld]

To be fair it was a tabloid report that a more reliable source used a friend of a friend or some such confirmed. I do not know if there is anything more official from her. When I looked it up last we the legitimate places were essentially confirming one each other just about, the 'legitimate' source for her being approached by Eon was a 'someone' close to her.

To me looking at her IMDB page she has nothing but free time what am I missing?

[Goldeneye]

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/14/ha ... -bond-girl

0Share

Naomie Harris has confirmed she is in the running to star opposite Daniel Craig in the next 007 film, insisting she "would love to" become the next Bond girl.

Rumours emerged last week linking the British actress to a part in the upcoming 23rd James Bond movie, which will see Craig step into the superspy role for a third time.

Harris has now opened up about the speculation, revealing she has been in talks with movie bosses, but has yet to sign a deal.

She tells Britain's Radio Times,[highlight=#ffffbf]"Nothing is confirmed, but I would love to be part of the Bond movies."[/highlight]
The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest star also reveals her admiration for the latest 007 films, because they portray Bond girls as more than just sex symbols.

She adds, "What makes them (Bond movies) work is that they are responsive to the times. Eva Green's character in Casino Royale was not scantily clad. She was an intelligent, strong, modern woman. The older idea of the Bond movie is in the past. Now it appeals to all generations, ages and sexes..."

However, Harris is adamant that if she gets the part, she won't be taking her clothes off onscreen: [highlight=#ffffbf]"It's the objectification that I don't like. I didn't sign up to be a stripper... I'm very anti the pressure that is put on women to take their clothes off."[/highlight]

The currently untitled Bond 23, to be directed by Sam Mendes, is slated for release next year.

[Blowfeld]

She adds, "What makes them (Bond movies) work is that they are responsive to the times. Eva Green's character in Casino Royale was not scantily clad. She was an intelligent, strong, modern woman. The older idea of the Bond movie is in the past. Now it appeals to all generations, ages and sexes..."

She is too perfect! She hates Bond just as much as they do Whatever happened to being a fan of the movies they are going to make, essentially she said she does not want to be in a 007 movie and if what she say is consistent with what is happening behind the scenes Bond 23 will be the 3rd non-Bond movie in a row for Eon

[Alessandra]

She adds, "What makes them (Bond movies) work is that they are responsive to the times. Eva Green's character in Casino Royale was not scantily clad. She was an intelligent, strong, modern woman. The older idea of the Bond movie is in the past. Now it appeals to all generations, ages and sexes..."

She is too perfect! She hates Bond just as much as they do Whatever happened to being a fan of the movies they are going to make, essentially she said she does not want to be in a 007 movie and if what she say is consistent with what is happening behind the scenes Bond 23 will be the 3rd non-Bond movie in a row for Eon

Excellent. Considering Eva Green was DREADFUL as Vesper Lynd and there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING empowering about it (where the HELL does Harris see that? if there was a USELESS, completely incompetent Bond girl that was Vesper Lynd as portrayed by Eva Green and that was one of the many reasons why I HATED her portrayal of Vesper) I can only expect another completely USELESS bimbo. Who will keep her clothes on, and that will make her "empowered"?

[Dr. No]

I always though Honey Rider was incredible beautiful, self assured, self educated, and when she was victimized she killed the Bas***d. She didn't have to burn her bra in protest, she went out and took control. I always liked that her admission made HMS professional gentleman killer gulp.

Some Bond girls did have bimbo vibe but I really think that most, especially the best ones were strong women. I think the quality of Bond girls went up again in 1987 through 2002, with the major exception being Charlie Sheen's ex wife.

[Bond77]

She adds, "What makes them (Bond movies) work is that they are responsive to the times. Eva Green's character in Casino Royale was not scantily clad. She was an intelligent, strong, modern woman. The older idea of the Bond movie is in the past. Now it appeals to all generations, ages and sexes..."

She is too perfect! She hates Bond just as much as they do Whatever happened to being a fan of the movies they are going to make, essentially she said she does not want to be in a 007 movie and if what she say is consistent with what is happening behind the scenes Bond 23 will be the 3rd non-Bond movie in a row for Eon

Excellent. Considering Eva Green was DREADFUL as Vesper Lynd and there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING empowering about it (where the HELL does Harris see that? if there was a USELESS, completely incompetent Bond girl that was Vesper Lynd as portrayed by Eva Green and that was one of the many reasons why I HATED her portrayal of Vesper) I can only expect another completely USELESS bimbo. Who will keep her clothes on, and that will make her "empowered"?

So I guess her posing in a bikini as seen in the image above isn't objectification, but a demonstration of her acting ability?

Anyways. Alessandra, who do you think is leaking all of these rumors, and for what purpose?

[Blowfeld]

Naomie Harris heads back to school

After a run of blockbuster supporting parts, Naomie Harris has found a leading role in a classroom – and could be the next Bond girl. By James Mottram

It's lunchtime, and even next to the well-heeled patrons of London's Soho House, Naomie Harris stands out from the crowd. She arrives for our interview dressed in funky black leather leggings and a shimmering Willow coat with severe padded shoulders. Not exactly daytime attire, but then Harris has just been to a photocall for her new film, The First Grader. I tell her it looks like something from Flash Gordon. "It's quite jarring with the film," she giggles. Given that it's a true story about an 84-year-old Kenyan who decides to head back to school, she has a point.

The last time I saw her was on the Kenyan set of the film, almost a year earlier. Then, seated in a government building in Nairobi as the camera peered in through the window, she was dressed as her character, good-hearted teacher Jane Obinchu. "It feels like I was there yesterday," she says, wistfully. "It was an amazing journey to go on. It's just incredible, the response that the film has had." Along with director Justin Chadwick (who made The Other Boleyn Girl) and a handful of others, Harris has shepherded the film through various festivals – Telluride, Toronto, Doha included. "I'd never been to a film festival before."

On one level, this sounds rather strange for an actress in the business for over a decade. But Harris, 34, who came to prominence in the 2002 TV adaptation of Zadie Smith's White Teeth, was ushered over to Hollywood before she had a chance. After appearing in Danny Boyle's zombie virus movie 28 Days Later, she went on to play voodoo priestess Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Her co-stars since have included Pierce Brosnan (After the Sunset), Jamie Foxx (Miami Vice) and Keanu Reeves (Street Kings). But what she hasn't managed so far is a leading role in a festival-friendly movie.

"I'd done the big Hollywood thing, and it was great, but it's such a different experience working on a big movie," she says. "You feel like a very small cog in a big wheel. Whereas when you do a small movie, you're a small band. There were nine of us who came out of England to do The First Grader and went to Kenya. So you feel really included, you feel like a family. You feel like you can contribute on the script. On all areas, you're hands on. It's just a different experience. It's just more rewarding. More creative."

Having just completed a three-month run in Danny Boyle's production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre, what will be interesting is whether she becomes a cog once more. Last week, it emerged that she is mulling over an offer to appear in the forthcoming James Bond film, to be directed by Sam Mendes and once again starring Daniel Craig as 007. Whereas once upon a time, being a Bond girl was considered the kiss of death for a career, recent appearances by Eva Green and Gemma Arterton have shown otherwise. And while Harris has so far remained diplomatically silent on the topic, you suspect she's secretly ecstatic to be in the running.

For now, she just wants to talk about The First Grader. The experience of shooting in Kenya clearly affected her profoundly, in particular working with local children in the mountainous Rift Valley region, an hour-and-a-half from Nairobi. "It was really odd going back home. I was looking at the children [here] who are considered coming from poor backgrounds and poor neighbourhoods. They have shoes, coats and toys. And they're considered poor. Go to Kenya and the children have literally nothing. Their shoes were falling apart."

Harris was called to set two weeks early to be gradually introduced to the children, who'd never even seen a television, let alone a camera. "They were so different to any other children that I'd met. Really reserved and really shy. Really gentle. Really innocent. So it takes them a long time to warm up to you. It was actually frustrating and upsetting in the beginning. I kept thinking 'What is wrong with me? Why won't they talk to me? Why won't they play with me?'" Harris wasn't acting with them; as far as they were concerned, she was their teacher – meaning she even had to devise lesson plans (while the cameras discreetly shot footage).

Of course, the children form the backdrop to the story of Maruge (Oliver Litondo), the irrepressible octogenarian who becomes inspired by a government declaration of free education for all to seek out a place at his local primary school. Described in some quarters as "an African Slumdog Millionaire", it was runner up in the Audience Award vote at Toronto last year – losing to The King's Speech. "There's so much cynicism and manipulation with films generally, and it's not one of those films," she says. "There's something genuine about it, and that genuineness affects people."

While she would never compare her own upbringing, in North London's Finsbury Park, to the poverty she saw in Kenya, her childhood was hardly luxurious. Her mother, Lisselle Kayla, was pregnant with her when she was 18, and had to raise Harris as a single parent (after her father left). Jamaican-born, she was an inspiration to Harris. Gaining a sociology degree at the University of London, she became a journalist, then a playwright and successful screenwriter (including EastEnders). Harris was equally go-getting in her early years, attending classes at the Anna Scher Theatre, Islington before becoming a regular on children's TV show Simon and the Witch aged 10.

Yet the education system proved her undoing. At secondary school, Harris was bullied. "I hated school," she sighs. "I didn't want to go to school." What happened? "I don't know. I don't why I was bullied. I was quite shy and skinny. Very nerdy, very bookwormish. I think I was just a target." She didn't fare a lot better at Cambridge, where she read social and political sciences at Pembroke College. While her peers talked about Eton and skiing, she felt she didn't fit in. "I felt so lonely. There was only one other black person in my year; I cried every day."

Through all this, however, Harris had a strong family network to fall back on. Her mother found a new partner, a teacher, and had two more children, bringing Harris a step-brother (now 14) and a sister (11). "They come to everything I do, even on set," she beams. The only time they didn't make it was to Kenya for The First Grader. "I was having an argument with my mum at the time! But normally, they come to everything." She recalls shooting Michael Winterbottom's A c**k and Bull Story, his low-budget spin on Tristam Shandy. "I was staying in a tiny little room, they drove up to the country with an air mattress."

With such a tight-knit family, it's no surprise to hear that Harris never went through a rebellious phase, despite her mother even urging her to "experiment" a little. "I never felt the need to. It's funny. My brother and sister are the same. They're like 'Why would you do that?' None of us, as a family, drink. None of us smoke. We're not brought up with it. To us, it seems a bit strange, why people want to do those things." She attributes this to her easy-going mother. "She was never like, 'You have to be in at 9 o'clock.' She'd be, 'What time do you think you want to get in?'"

Harris lived at home into her late twenties – though for the past three years she's been living out of two suitcases. When she finished The First Grader, she made a concerted effort to take some time off and finally settle down. "I needed a break to ground myself," she says. She put an offer on five different places, and each fell through. "My journey of looking for this house was about wanting to do what my friends are doing, which is settle down, have a family. That kind of thing. I thought, 'I need to be doing that.' So I panicked and thought, 'I need to be like them.'"

In the end, this extended house-hunt taught her why she loves acting. "I love doing a film with a new bunch of people. I love going away and not knowing anybody and by the end of it, having fifteen really good friends." Now planning to move into a flat on the same street that her mother lives, between her real family and the makeshift ones she meets on film sets, Harris's life seems full to bursting. It means she's not yet ready for children, she says. "I realised I was trying to find what other people have, and actually I have something great that works for me."

The First Grader opens on June 24th

This Story Can Be Found Here

[Blowfeld]

Exclusive: 'Bond 23': Naomie Harris talks 007 rumors
Monday, June 20 2011, 8:00am EDT
By Simon Reynolds, Movies Editor and Tom Mansell, Multimedia Producer
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Actress Naomie Harris

© PA Images / Antony Jones/UK Press
Naomie Harris has confirmed that she is in the running to star in the new James Bond movie.

The British actress, whose latest film The First Grader opens in the UK on Friday, revealed that she has met with director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli but has been kept in the dark about her potential role.

"Nothing is confirmed as yet," she told Digital Spy. "It's amazing to me that everyone's running with it, 'You're the next Bond girl!'

"For starters I don't even know what role I'd be playing because you don't get given the script when you audition for Bond. You get given a scene from a previous Bond movie.

"I have no idea what role I'd be playing, I don't know whether it would be a Bond girl, no offers or anything have come out. I'd love to be part of Bond, I'm not going to deny that, but I don't know what's going to happen."

Harris's movie credits also include 28 Days Later, Pirates of the Caribbean and Miami Vice.

Watch Naomie Harris discuss Bond 23 below

This story can be found here

[Dr. No]

The pictures make me think she is too wholesome to be a effective Bond girl.

[Thunderpussy]

She'll look fantasic next to Craig, lets face it He improves the look of any leading lady.