The next Bond girl you see on the big screen may actually be more of the leading lady if former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan has any say in the matter. The actor who became an icon playing the suave British spy, known as “Bond...James Bond”,says it is high time a woman play the role of James Bond in the successful decades long franchise.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Brosnan and reports about his hopes to see a female take over what has been a very male (and in past decades, famously massagenist) role. Brosnan played the role of James Bond for four Bond movies and calls it his biggest career achievement. During his time as Bond, his movies drew bigger audiences and more interest in the franchise than there had been in a while. He explains, “James Bond has a certain significance and a deep pride. I will be asked about him until my dying days — it just goes with the territory. He's a beloved character. I was honored to play the role and I rejuvenated a franchise that had been dormant.”
When asked who should be up for the role after current Bond, Daniel Craig, steps down, Brosnan was quick to give it to the women. Brosnan says, “I think we've watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there. I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting.” It’s very possible Brosnan’s wishes may come true after recent rumors surfaced that actress Lashana Lynch may be up for taking over after Craig retires the role. However, Brosnan is hesitant to bet that the current producers, the famous Brocolli family, will be the ones to make the change to a female Bond. He says, “I don't think that's going to happen with the Broccolis. I don't think that is going to happen under their watch.”
When and if there is a more diverse Bond character, it’s hard to imagine the character will stay the same in the #MeToo era. Currently Bond is a well-known womanizer who is sometimes even portrayed as a chauvanist while saving the world. Brosnan believes the Bond franchise will get past this if they address the issue and have the character evolve with the times. He says, “Without question, yes... The #MeToo movement has been relevant and significant and well needed in our society, so they'll have to address that.”
Are you a fan of the James Bond franchise?
Do you think a woman should replace Daniel Craig when he steps down?
I wish Hollywood would stop trying to femanize everything. I didn't watch the new Ghostbusters just because they had women replace the guys as the main characters. I won't watch the new Bond movie just because they make 007 a woman. I don't need nor want a female version of every movie that starred a man as the main character. It's insulting that they think women are so weak that we can't watch a male cast movie without being offended. If you look back at all of the movies that they have remade (and butchered, I might add) with women replacing the men's characters, they didn't achieve making the character stronger or better than the original. If anything, it lost them fans due to the absurd idea that they could improve the originals by changing the gender of the lead role. What's next? Dirty Harriet?
James Bond is already an established character in both the novels and the films. You wouldn't make Lara Croft a male, so why make James Bond a female? 007 is a codename, but James Bond is not. There are other things they could do like passing on the 007 role, but Bond is Bond.
Nope nope nope. Make a woman 008 or something with her own franchise but don't mess with 007 and the way that Ian Fleming wrote him - would be disrespectful to the author and the legacy of the character.
I would like to see a woman take on this role. I think a woman could very good at this and it would put them in a positive light. So tired of movies depicting women as just sex objects.
I love James Bond movies because of the action. And yes it's time for a woman to do it.