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Why was Felix Leiter changed so much in the official EON series?

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (20123)
1 reply | jump to latest

Correct if I'm wrong, but Bernie Casey as cast as Felix in Never Say Never Again in no small part because the theory was that if they got a black actor to play him, he would by default make an major impression one way or another. Because up until that point, Felix had really served as an inconsequential entity, since no actor played him more than once (until David Hedison played him in Licence to Kill, and that came right after John Terry played him in The Living Daylights).

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6cd229b0c3d6b126dbafb89326470696

https://www.quora.com/How-many-actors-played-Felix-in-the-Bond-movies/answer/Melia-Janssen

It wasn't until Jeffrey Wright played Felix in Casino Royale and subsequently, Quantum of Solace, that we finally got a consistent portrayed of him.

[–] PetyrBaelish (124) 5 years ago

Jack Lord who played Leiter in the original, wanted co star billing with Connery and was not brought back. I don't really know why they couldn't get the same guy to play Bond after that, but the producers never wanted Leiter to come close to the importance Bond had in the movies.