Professor Stephen Hawking has already gamely played various versions of himself on Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons, and The Big Bang Theory, but it turns out the theoretical physicist and cosmologist has a dream role: Bond baddie.
“My ideal role would be a baddie in James Bond,” he recently told Wired UK (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I think the wheelchair and the computer voice would fit the part.”
Forget Christoph Waltz, this would be great. Or, don’t forget Christoph Waltz—the two of them could team up! Waltz could be the Mandarin to Hawking’s Aldritch Killian.
At any rate, it would be the perfect counterpoint to the affecting Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything. Plus, it could introduce a more real-world threat into a Bond film—maybe black holes, or perhaps artificial intelligence itself! It can’t be coincidence that another recent interview has Hawking warning about the potential dangerous impact of AI on the human race…