Callum Turner names the greatest espionage movie ever made: “I think it’s the most beautiful”
Every British actor of a certain age, and the occasional Antipodean, will inevitably be linked with the role of James Bond whenever it’s available. As a Londoner in his mid-30s and one of cinema’s brightest rising stars, Callum Turner’s name was always going to end up in the mix eventually.
His early big-screen credits weren’t particularly impressive, with supporting roles in Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy’s Victor Frankenstein, Michael Fassbender’s dismal Assassin’s Creed, and the abandoned Fantastic Beasts franchise, hardly singling him out as a talent well worth keeping an eye on.
That said, John Boorman’s Queen and Country and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room gave him the platform to showcase his talents when he wasn’t being shunted to the background in CGI-fuelled spectacle films, and he’s continued to display his chops in projects like George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat and Steven Spielberg’s spiritual successor to Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Masters of the Air.
Since he was born in 1990, was born and raised in the United Kingdom, and is well-known without being too famous, Turner’s name was destined to enter the 007 conversation. Sure enough, it’s been suggested that he’s Denis Villeneuve’s preferred candidate to don the tux and reboot Bond for the next generation in the saga’s 26th instalment, which is still a long way away from casting, never mind shooting.
We’ll just have to wait and see if he ends up inheriting the mantle from Daniel Craig, but it’s nonetheless interesting that one of his favourite movies of all time is rooted deeply in the world of espionage. When quizzed by Letterboxd to name his all-time quartet, Turner’s first pick was an Alan J Pakula classic.
“I’m going to go for The Parallax View,” he said. “I just think it’s the most beautiful. The opening, you would never be able to do that now. The guy rolls off the top of a rotating restaurant tower.” That’s indeed how the 1974 thriller begins, with Paula Prentiss’ Lee Carter witnessing William Joyce’s potential presidential candidate Charles Carroll take an unfortunate tumble.
Well, it’s an assassination, but the shady Parallax Corporation wants to cover it up. When the real culprit makes a clean getaway and a red herring suspect is killed, six more witnesses mysteriously perish over the next three years, forcing Carter to rope in Warren Beatty’s investigative reporter for assistance, fearing that she’s next.
Not to spoil a 50-year-old movie, but she is, which convinces the dogged journalist, Joseph Frady, to dig deeper for the truth. The Parallax View is most definitely not a spy flick, and you can’t even tangentially try and tie it to Bond in any way, shape, or form, but there is a whole lot of espionage going on, and the fact that it’s one of Turner’s favourites indicates that he’s not against a bit of cinematic subterfuge.
Will he get the nod as the next 007? That ball remains firmly in Villeneuve’s court, but he wouldn’t be the worst shout in the world.
