James Bond Star Says A Woman Shouldn’t Play 007
It had been announced that James Bond is going to be reinvented, and now a star from the franchise says that reinvention should not include a woman playing 007.
Now that Daniel Craig’s stint as James Bond is over, fans are eager to see which actor will succeed him as the popular British secret service agent. While the casting process hasn’t officially started, producer Barbara Broccoli told GQ that Team Bond intends to spend the next two years reinventing the character. While a lot of folks hoped to see a woman play the super spy, the producer said 007 would not be getting gender-swapped any time soon.
In an interview with The Sun, No Time To Die star Ana de Armas echoed Broccoli’s sentiment. The actress said she is firmly against the idea of a female James Bond, adding that there’s no need for the character to be stolen. “There’s no need for a female Bond. There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character. This is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at,” she told the publication.
Instead, the 34-year-old would be happy to see women have other dominant roles in the franchise “What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though James Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life differently,” the actress said. She also explained how female roles in the spy series should be more substantial, with the actresses getting added recognition. Ana de Armas said she thinks that would be so much better than just flipping things.
The depiction of female characters in the James Bond franchise has always been controversial. In the early days, they were nothing more than a disposal plaything for the lead character. If that wasn’t disturbing enough, the older films even featured scenes where these women would be slapped across the face in the most nauseatingly casual context. Shockingly, Bond girls were still hailed as a feature of the franchise, with several actresses clamoring for the gig.
But in recent years, Bond girls have become more than scantily clad eye candy. Throughout Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond, his female counterparts have been strong, able, and more than a match for the leading man. Anan de Armas appears as CIA agent Paloma in No Time To Die, with the character becoming an instant hit with fans. The movie also saw Lea Seydoux return as Madeleine Swann, with Lashana Lynch appearing as a new 007 agent who took over the moniker while he was in retirement.
With so many original strong female roles in the franchise, there’s really no need for the character to be gender swapped. Among the actors in the running to play James Bond, Idris Elba is reportedly racing back up 2022’s favorites list after initial talks with producers about playing a villain. However, when the idea went through focus group testing, movie buffs said they didn’t want to see him as a bad guy. They want him as the hero. Freshly minted serious actor Harry Styles is also being considered as someone we could see sipping on a shaken martini. Man of Steel star, Henry Cavill is also a strong choice.
