Actress Ana de Armas, who starred in the latest Bond blockbuster No Time to Die, has come out against making the next James Bond a woman, adding that there is “no need to steal someone else’s character.”
De Arrmas, who played a more aggressive gun-wielding female agent than what usually appears in the Bond series in 2021’s No Time to Die, spoke to the Sun newspaper and was asked if she thinks the next 007 film should feature an actor who claims to be “non-binary” to portray James Bond.
But the Knives Out star was unconvinced that James Bond needed to be altered to appease a woke audience.
“There’s no need for a female Bond,” de Armas insisted. “There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character, you know, to take over.”
De Armas went on to say that some properties just need to stick to the tradition that made them classics. “This is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at.”
Still, she did seem to feel that female characters in the Bond series do need some updating from the traditional arm candy of the past.
“What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life in a different way,” she said. “That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things.”
De Armas’ thinking seems to comport with that of series producer Barbara Broccoli, as well. Back in 2018, Broccoli dismissed the idea that James Bond could be flipped to Jane Bond.
“Bond is male. He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male,” Broccoli said at the time. “And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.”
Bond star Craig also rejected a female Bond.
“The answer to that is very simple,” Craig replied when asked if the role should be more diverse. “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, for a woman?”
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