We may or may not know who the villain of Bond 25 will be. Wonder Woman actor Saïd Taghmaoui was recently cast in the film, a role that would have been the most prominent of his career as a solid supporting player. The only problem is that was when Danny Boyle was still attached, and with the director out that obviously puts his situation in limbo.
Taghmaoui explains his current situation to The National...
“I’m supposed to do the next James Bond, playing the lead bad guy. I was cast by Danny Boyle, and just now he left the project, so of course there’s some uncertainty."
This whole situation stems from a dispute between Boyle, star Daniel Craig, and the franchise's producers over casting. Boyle and writer John Hodge clearly had a specific idea in mind when it comes to the movie's villain, but it's Craig who gets the last word. Clearly, he and Boyle were unable to find common ground, and it looks like Taghmaoui may have been caught up in the shrapnel...
“We don’t know who the director will be, and the producers don’t know if they’re going to go Russian or Middle East with the baddie right now. I literally just received a message saying: ‘If they go Middle East, it’s you. If they go Russian, it’s someone else.’ It’s the story of my life. Always on that line between something that could change my life and something that disappears.”
Taghmaoui is a versatile actor, appearing in everything from The West Wing to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra where he played Breaker, but I don't think he'd be able to pull off playing a Russian terrorist. A decision on a new director should be coming soon, and with it some idea of Saïd Taghmaoui's involvement.
