18 Great Actors Totally Wasted In James Bond Movies
3. Jonathan Pryce
Played: Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies.
Jonathan Pryce is yet another wonderful actor wasted in yet another dreadful Bond villain.
Pryce gives one of the worst performances of his career in Tomorrow Never Dies, an otherwise successful entry in the franchise and this wasn't entirely his fault. After all, Carver is blatantly an evil parody of Rupert Murdoch and his evil plan - he wants to start World War III so that he can get broadcasting rights in China... OK then - is the silliest villainous plan in Bond history, so he's not a good villain anyhow.
Therefore, any actor would've struggled, including original choice Anthony Hopkins (who walked due to how chaotic the production was) but Pryce was not the right pick and was completely miscast.
Pryce has shown again and again that he's a real master at subtle and nuanced acting and a character as ridiculous as Carver needed a more flamboyant performer. Pryce is too quiet for the character and whenever he does attempt to ham it up (such as in that cringe-worthy scene where he imitates Kung Fu) it just looks so forced.