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Richard Madden
A few weeks ago, rumors started to buzz in the British press that Richard Madden — aka Robb Stark, Prince Charming, and that hot DJ in Ibiza — might be the frontrunner to be the next James Bond, and some of my American friends were not having it. “He’s bland,” some of them said. “He’s boring,” they countered. “He owns in Bodyguard,” I argued back.
Netflix’s Bodyguard is a heart-racing thriller — that, okay, kind of falls apart in the last confusing 20 minutes* — but more than anything else it is proof positive that Richard Madden has the goods to play 007.
Before we go into how Richard Madden’s turn as David Budd is like classic Bond with a modern PTSD twist, I’m going to have to address the casting controversy elephant in the room. For some years now there’s been a push to reimagine James Bond as something other than just a white British man. Great Britain is home to a diverse population, and it would be fitting, and great, to have someone like Daniel Kaluuya, Riz Ahmed, or the forever-mentioned Idris Elba in the suit. They would all be great. However, if — and this is a big if — Barbara Broccoli and the rest of the producers shy away from that path and choose to go with a white British actor, Richard Madden should be at the top of that particular list. And it all circles back to what he accomplishes in Bodyguard.
And I’m not just talking about the way he drives a car backwards while under sniper attack.
As David Budd, Richard Madden is a new kind of secret agent man. Yes, he’s preposterously good at his job — an ace shot, spectacular strategist, and all around super soldier — but he’s also able to convey a deep well of neurosis as he pulls off these feats of badassery. If Daniel Craig grounded the Bond franchise with his realistic performance of a man who takes punches, but never stays down, then Madden is presenting us with that same person, but more effed up.
Indeed, David Budd’s bravery comes across to the viewer because Madden is able to convey his nervy terror. The cool facade in the line of fire is just that. He’s on the verge of exploding with fear, angst, and rage. It is a profound portrait of a person in overwhelming circumstances who somehow manages to defy the odds to battle through the day.
*I don’t even want to talk about that final scene. What…was that?
