Kevin O’Leary is chiefly known to the world as a successful businessman and television personality seen on shows like Shark Tank, but now he can also put being an actor on his resume. “Mr. Wonderful” made his feature film debut just a few weeks ago playing Milton Rockwell in Marty Supreme, starring opposite, and even paddleball spanking, Timothée Chalamet. Now O’Leary wants to keep his acting journey going by playing a James Bond villain, but what really caught my attention was his suggestion for the 007 franchise as a whole.
Ahead of the Golden Globe winners being announced on Sunday night, Kevin O’Leary spoke with AP Entertainment about how he’s “caught the acting bug” following his experience on Marty Supreme and now has his eyes set on the James property. In his words:
Now that I’ve done this, I really want to do it again, and I know specifically what I want. I might as well — I’m used to asking for what I want. I want to be the bad guy in Bond. Nobody can do it the way I can.
While James Bond is and always be a quintessential British role (though there was that close call with Dick Van Dyke), the spy’s battled villains from all over the globe. So now that he’s shown off his acting chops in Marty Supreme, it’s not implausible that Kevin O’Leary could be looked at to play a bad guy in a Bond movie. Admittedly, I don’t think he would be selected to play the main antagonist, but I could envision him as an opening threat for Bond to neutralize.
Regardless of whether or not O’Leary boards the James Bond franchise, he also mentioned during the conversation that he thinks it’s time for an actress to play the Ian Fleming-created character, saying:
And I want Bond to be a woman this time, and I think there could be a new tension between good and bad, you know, darkness and evil. And I just — I’ve been dissatisfied ever since the ‘60s. I want real bad, and I’m the guy.
Whether or not James Bond should be played by a woman has become a polarizing topic ever since Daniel Craig’s time as 007 started winding down. While some agree with Kevin O’Leary, including a British intelligence expert, others, like Craig himself and his Quantum of Solace costar Gemma Arterton, believe Bond should continue to be played by a man. Longtime Bond Barbara Broccoli even said back in 2020 that James Bond would always be a male character, although now that Amazon MGM has control of the franchise, it’s unclear if that rule still stands.
What we do know for sure is that the next James Bond movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Steven Knight. If Kevin O’Leary ends up being recruited for this cinematic endeavor, we’ll let you know. Until then, you can still see him in Marty Supreme as its theatrical run continues.
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