Today's announcement of who the next James Bond will be is of special interest to one Calgarian with family ties to the famous franchise.
Sharon Broccoli is the cousin of Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who first brought Ian Fleming's secret agent to the screen. Since Cubby's death, his daughter, Barbara, and son, Michael Wilson, have been producing the Bond movies.
Today, they are expected to reveal which actor will replace Pierce Brosnan for the next Bond flick, Casino Royale.
And while the odds-on favourite is actor Daniel Craig -- best known from roles in Layer Cake and Road To Perdition -- Sharon says there's only one actor she thinks could do 007 justice.
"Russell Crowe -- there's somebody who would make a great James Bond. He's got everything -- he's got the age, the experience, the charisma and the bankability."
Sharon's other pick? Brosnan, who made four Bond films including the last in 2002, Die Another Day.
"I really would have liked to see him reprise his role."
(Other actors once rumoured for the role get a definite thumbs-down. "Colin Farrell -- definitely no. He's just not the image of Bond.")
Sharon has lived in Calgary for the past 14 years and runs and teaches classes at Actors Academy International.
"Every now and again, a student asks, 'Can I be in the next James Bond movie?' "
Of course, she has as little to say about that as who don Bond's tuxedo.
Still, the family connection -- she spent time with Cubby, ironically, during the period in the '80s when he was trying to cast Brosnan prior to Timothy Dalton -- does have its perks.
Just ask her 11-year-old son.
"He goes around telling people he's related to James Bond."
