Tradecraft: Bond Alums Defect to Le Carre

The Wrap reports (via Dark Horizons) that two James Bond actors are contemplating defection to the other side of the spy genre, and joining a John le Carré adaptation. According to the trade blog, Casino Royale baddie Mads Mikkelsen and Skyfall's Ralph Fiennes are circling Justin Kurzel's Our Kind of Traitor, adapted by Drive and Jack Ryan screenwriter Hossein Amini from le Carré's most recent novel. Presumably, Mikkelsen is up for the potentially show-stealing role of larger-than-life Russian gangster Dima, and Fiennes for British spymaster Hector. The latter would be a tad surprising, since the role would be quite similar to his Bond part as some sort of intelligence bureaucrat. Then again, Pierce Brosnan managed to (quite wonderfully) play a le Carré role not without its similarities to his most famous part in The Tailor of Panama during his 007 tenure! Fiennes, who's no stranger to le Carré having starred in The Constant Gardener, would of course be great as Hector, though I always pictured Page Eight's Bill Nighy in the role.  (Perhaps because Michael Jayston puts on a fantastic Nighy voice for the character in his audiobook adaptation.) Jessica Chastain's name has also apparently been mentioned in connection with the film, too, presumably for the plum role of Gail, one half of a young British couple Dima chooses to be his conduit to British Intelligence. (That's a great part, among the best women le Carré's ever written.)