Some celebrities are known for their strange behaviour, aspirations, and demands (just look at the various backstage requirements by some entitled musicians). And then there are truly bizarre stories like this one: Michael Jackson wanted to play James Bond.
Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz, author of the memoir Who is Michael Ovitz?, claims he met with the King of Pop and discussed the singer’s desire to play the British secret agent, reports Page Six. Ovitz described their meeting, and it was rather unusual.
“As he talked, his hat fell into the guacamole in front of him, and he picked it out and put it back on – unfortunately, with a blob of guacamole attached, which began to slide down the brim,” Ovitz wrote. “Ron Meyer tapped my leg to draw my attention to it, and we all watched in horrified fascination as it slid lower and lower while Michael was pitching us hard on how he was America’s next action hero. Then the blob fell off, and Ron totally lost it. I cracked up, too, and Michael stalked out.”
Ovitz tried to save face by chasing after Jackson to smooth things over. That’s when he found out who exactly the singer wanted to play on the big screen.
“I went and found him and explained for fifteen minutes that we hadn’t been laughing at him, but at the incident. … Finally, Michael’s face cleared. ‘Okay, Ovitz. Okay,’ he said. ‘But I want to play James Bond.’ I am proud to report I didn’t laugh, this time,” he wrote.
Ovitz tried to be diplomatic by advising Jackson that he was not suitable for the role.
“You’re thinly built, you’re too sensitive, you won’t be credible as a block of stone. You’d be great at it, of course, but it’d be bad for you,” Ovitz recalled.
While Jackson was unable to live his dream as 007, he appeared in a handful of films during his career, including 1978’s The Wiz, 1986 space opera Captain EO (which played at Disney theme parks), 1988’s Moonwalker, and 1996’s Michael Jackson’s Ghosts. He made a cameo in 2002’s Men In Black II and starred in the 2004 comedy Miss Cast Away and the Island Girl in which he played an agent assigned by the Vatican to manipulate the castaways.
Meanwhile, Daniel Craig was scheduled to start filming the next 007 film (number 25) this December. However, the movie is experiencing a setback due to director Danny Boyle’s decision to drop out of the project over creative differences. It was rumored that Boyle planned on killing off Bond, which may have paved the way for a Doctor Who-like regeneration with different actors playing the same role.
