Ralph Fiennes: James Bond needs to be ‘radically different’

Ralph Fiennes thinks the next James Bond movie should be "radically different" from the recent instalments of the saga.

The 53-year-old actor plays Bond’s MI6 handler M in the franchise, and he has revealed that his Russian friends "hate" the newer films as they are too dark, and they much prefer the light-hearted era of former 007 actor Sir Roger Moore.

He said: "It was categorical. [They said] ‘I hate these! So serious! Please! Why? Where are the jokes?’ "

Ralph admitted his friends keep reminding him that the Bond movies are supposed to be "a show".

With Sam Mendes – director of the last two Bond movies ‘Spectre’ and ‘Skyfall’ – now stepping down from the director’s chair, the ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ actor believes the next director needs to offer a different "tone and argument".

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the star said: "Well I think if you’re the next director of Bond, you’re going to not want to go down the tone and argument of what Sam [Mendes] has put into the films.

"Questions of British nationhood, and whether Bond is a dinosaur, all that. So I would guess if you’re coming to do the next Bond, you’d want to take it somewhere radically different, I think."

However, the ‘Schindler’s List’ actor believes British fans of the franchise liked the fact that Bond – who has been portrayed by Daniel Craig in the last four films of the series – was brought into the "real world", but would like to see some of his characterisation stay the same.

He said: "I think the British audience likes Bond being brought into a more serious real world. So they should nod to all those well-known Bond tropes and icons that we want, but with an undertone of gravitas."

The news comes after it was revealed that MGM bosses were on the hunt for a new James Bond in the wake of current actor Daniel’s threats that he would quit the franchise.

Actors in the running for the suave spy include ‘Poldark’s Aidan Turner and ‘Luther’ star Idris Elba.