The 1985 Christopher Walken role David Bowie refused to play: “Absolutely out of the question”
If you offer a role to David Bowie, an eccentric and idiosyncratic icon of their chosen vocation, and he turns it down, where do you go next? To Christopher Walken, another eccentric and idiosyncratic icon of their chosen vocation, and it happened more than once, too.
Clearly, neither of them fancied getting their arse handed to them on a silver platter by Sylvester Stallone, with Bowie resolutely resisting the overtures made in his direction to play the villain in 1993’s Cliffhanger. Walken was more amenable, at least for a while, before he also dropped out of the part right before shooting, opening the door for John Lithgow to chew up and spit out every piece of scenery.
They did cross paths once, with the legendary musician and Academy Award-winning character man sharing an ensemble in writer and director Julian Schnabel’s 1996 biopic, Basquiat, but a decade beforehand, they were like ships in the night when one of cinema’s most iconic franchises was searching for the latest in a long line of memorable antagonists.
Bowie got there first, since it was announced to the world in 1984 that he’d play Max Zorin in A View to a Kill, Roger Moore’s final outing as James Bond. Either the studio jumped the gun, or some wires got crossed along the way, because ‘The Thin White Duke’ would subsequently deny that he had any sort of deal or agreement in place with either the filmmakers, Eon Productions, or United Artists.
“Absolutely out of the question,” he unequivocally stated. “Yes, I was offered that.” The job was his if he wanted it, then, but since he didn’t want it, he didn’t take it. Throwing another barb at the ongoing adventures of 007, he remarked that a ‘Bond villain’ would require “more of a clown performance,” and he didn’t want to give one of them.
Who loves giving clown performances? Plenty of actors, probably, but few are more qualified than a veteran scene-stealer who copped to the long-held secret that an alarmingly large percentage of their on-camera work drew its inspiration primarily from Bugs Bunny, although that probably didn’t surprise too many people, especially those who’ve seen Walken hamming it up for the cheap seats.
Would Bowie have made an excellent Bond villain? Almost certainly. Was Walken an excellent Bond villain? That’s a bit more debatable. His Zorin was good, but when push comes to shove, even the most ardent 007 supporters wouldn’t place him on an even keel with Blofeld, Jaws, Francisco Scaramanga, Oddjob, or any of the other top-tier nemeses the secret agent has faced over the years.
That wasn’t the only notable switcheroo to affect A View to a Kill, either, with Priscilla Presley set for ‘Bond girl’ duties as Stacey Sutton, only for scheduling conflicts with her ongoing role in Dallas ruling her out. That opened the door for Tanya Roberts, who ended up as one of the many love interests to retrospectively regret their involvement.
The 14th instalment in the globetrotting series could have featured one bona fide member of musical royalty in Bowie and another member of bona fide musical royalty by association in Presley, but it wasn’t to be. Unlike Ziggy Stardust, Walken will almost always accept everything that comes his way, so there was little chance he’d follow suit and abandon ship.
