Given how Danny Boyle departed 'Bond 25' over that old chestnut - creative differences - you can understand how Saïd Taghmaoui is somewhat perplexed about the nature of his role in 'Bond 25'.
Speaking to The National, 'Wonder Woman' alum Taghmaoui said that he has indeed been cast as the villain - but that it's down to either playing a Middle Eastern or Russian villain. Yeah, really. "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," said Taghmaoui, who was born in France, has Moroccan parents, and has American citzenship.
"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." The scuttlebutt surrounding 'Bond 25' was that the Russian villain was supposed to be played by 'Cold War' breakout Tomasz Kot, which was the crux of the argument between Boyle and the producers - including Craig.
Given how there's a production start of December and no director has been finalised to take over the reins, it's hard to know which way it's going to pan out. Both Taghmaoui - who was excellent in 'Three Kings' with Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney - and Kot are both fine actors, and it's obviously a juicy role that'll do well for them, career-wise.
'Bond 25' is scheduled for release in Ireland on October 25th, 2019.
