Cinematical

About two months ago, when we at Cinematical and Moviefone were asked to name our celebrity crush, I had picked a long-time favorite, Emily Watson. But then I saw Paul Verhoeven's spectacular film Black Book and fell in love with its star, Carice van Houten. Unfortunately it was too late to change my selection for the celebrity crush piece, and anyway most readers have never heard of the actress and so wouldn't have likely cared about my choice. However, the actress' lack of mainstream awareness could very well change in the next two years, as she is rumored to be in the running for the next James Bond movie.

Of course, we hear about different Bond girl casting rumors on a regular basis. So far the most noteworthy choices have been Abbie Cornish, who supposedly flew to Singapore last month for related meetings, and Sienna Miller. Van Houten fits the routine of these rumors, which tend to reference relatively unknown actresses (and even more obscure models, as in the suggestion of Fulya Keskin), but she is definitely the best person for the role so far named. Obviously I'm basing her suitability on her character in Black Book, but in that film she exhibits all the qualities of what a great Bond girl should be. In fact, in her playing an undercover spy who infiltrates the Nazis, she exhibits qualities that make for a great Bond (would 007 ever dye his pubic hair for a mission?).

Surely I am not the only person who has seen Black Book and hopes this rumor is true. Cinematical editor-in-chief, Ryan Stewart, who called van Houten the "find of the decade" in his review of Verhoeven's film, even agrees with me that this is the greatest rumor of all time. If it is just a rumor, though, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly plead with MGM to make it a reality. Please, please, please with a cherry on top cast Carice van Houten in Bond 22.