Tom Hardy
He’d be competing with Craig over the title of “Most Prominent Ears,” but they’d be hard to notice when attached to the kind of mug Tom Hardy has. Inception introduced him to a wider audience as a suave hunk, but he’s also been able to show off his feral side as a scrappy fighter in Warrior, and an overbearing hulk in The Dark Knight Rises. An applicant out of the bruiser academy, Hardy’s intimidating stature and smooth style would lend themselves to the role of a Bond villain as easily as the man himself.
While he may have already played an agent of MI6 in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, John le Carré’s vision of espionage is a far cry from Ian Fleming’s, so Hardy might be even better once some theatricality is thrown into the mix. He’s got the range to play Bond as sexy and sensitive, grim and grizzled, or even a bit of both, depending on who he’s trying to woo, and who he’s trying to wound. Just don’t expect to see the 10 years sober beefcake pitching vodka brands anytime soon.
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