DISHING DIVA! Guess Who Wanted To Be 007? (Hint: He’s Already In The Movie!)

By DIVAGALS | December 11, 2013 | Dish!, Entertainment

He’s already got a gig starring as James Bond’s new boss in upcoming Bond films. But at a special screening of The Invisible Woman, sponsored by Carlo Pazolini, Dishing Diva chatted with Ralph Fiennes, who stars and directs in the film about Charles Dickens‘ secret mistress, he revealed only to us his Bond secret — that he once wanted to play the title role!

The prolific actor got a dreamy look in his eyes as he stated, “Way back maybe, I would have fancied my chances, but not now.” Ralph gave great praise to his 007 co-star. “Daniel Craig is such a great one, I don’t think I would touch that casting decision at all, I’m very happy to be playing M. I’m a huge fan of Daniel’s Bond.”

As for playing the prolific writer Dickens ΓÇô and directing the poignant film of his real-life illicit love affair with Nelly Ternan, a teen actress┬áΓÇô Ralph shared, “I knew I wanted to direct it, so I started with that. And then the actor within me started thinking like Dickens.

Ralph added, “Dickens was a control freak. He liked to do everything. He produced, directed and starred in his own amateur theatricals. So there’s was a bit of me who had to do that. And there was me doing that as the actor and the director. There was a kind of cross-fertilization doing that.”

Slipping into Dickens’ unique look helped him get into the role. “I grew my own goatee beard, which he had, and put on the wonderfully wiggery with his weird comb-over thing happening,” Ralph laughed. “That was such an iconic look, once I had that on me, it didn’t get all the job done, but it helped. Dickens had a boyish vanity.” Ah, the mind of a genius!

The Invisible Woman opens in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 25.

photo credit: PR Photos