If you’re a regular listener to the Empire Podcast, you might have heard our own Dan Jolin on the Skyfall Spoiler Special talking about a particular part he thought might have been filled by former 007 Sean Connery. Now Sam Mendes has weighed in to discuss the idea. For the benefit of those who have yet to see Skyfall, we’ll keep the actual role for the following paragraphs, so turn away now if you don’t want to be spoiled.
The Huffington Post asked Mendes about the role, played in the film by Albert Finney, while talking about the elements of nostalgia he and the Eon team brought to Skyfall. Asked if he’d considered Connery for the role of Bond’s parents’ groundskeeper, Kincade, Mendes answered in the affirmative, while adding that it was only a brief, preliminary idea.
“There was a definite discussion about that – way, way early on,” says Mendes. “But I think that's problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too ... it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond and he's not going to come back as another character. It's like, he's been there. So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract.”
Obviously, given his feelings towards the franchise, we doubt Connery would have given it a second thought himself. But dammit, it might have been fun…
To hear the Skyfall Spoiler Special, see below. And if you still haven’t had enough Bond, we talked to regular 007 scribes Robert Wade and Neal Purvis for another edition of the Podcast, which will arrive on Friday.