blofeld

from the guardian:

Pussy galore ... Michael Sheen (right) has the sharp suit, but he'll need the gun, the Persian and maybe some age makeup to play Blofeld like Charles Gray in Diamonds Are Forever. Photographs: Cinetext/Allstar and Jon Funiss/WireImage.com

Michael Sheen might be Bond baddie Blofeld

The Damned United actor is reported to be in negotiations to play the criminal mastermind in the 23rd official 007 picture, being co-scripted by Peter Morgan

He was last seen being tipped out of a helicopter into the gaping mouth of an industrial chimney. Now, 28 years after his last official appearance in For Your Eyes Only, James Bond's deadliest foe could be set for a return – in the fresh-faced form of actor Michael Sheen.

Sheen, 40, is reported to be in negotiations to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the 23rd official Bond picture, set for release in 2011. The script is being co-written by Peter Morgan, Sheen's long-time collaborator, who has already worked with him on the likes of The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Damned United.

"Michael is hot property right now and it is felt that he's the right man to bring Blofeld back to life," an unnamed source told the Daily Express newspaper. "Michael was a Bond fan in his youth, so this would be a dream role for him."

The sinister chieftain of the global criminal organisation Spectre, Blofeld has appeared in six James Bond outings and has been interpreted by a variety of actors, including Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas and Charles Gray. In popular imagination, he sports a scarred face and a shaved head and is never seen without his beloved white Persian cat.

Over recent decades, however, Blofeld has proved a more fitful and elusive presence. He was briefly resurrected by the Swedish actor Max von Sydow in 1983's unofficial Bond adventure Never Say Never Again and provided the inspiration for Dr Evil, the cackling, accident-prone baddie from the Austin Powers comedies. The real Blofeld, one suspects, would not have been amused.