Why secret agent Bond will never be played by a woman

Angelina Jolie famously turned down a Bond girl role saying she preferred to play Bond. But we are unlikely to ever see a female character play the famous secret agent, writes Amanda Cassidy

“Over the years, attitudes have changed, and so have the Bond films. The films are representative of the times they’re in.” says Michael Wilson and his half-sister Barbara Broccoli who co-own the Bond franchise. Wilson’s mother married the legendary Bond producer Cubby Broccoli in 1959. The half-siblings agree that Bond movies although conscious of the Me Too movement, Bond will remain a traditional action hero. “He’s a real man, who loved life and women and indulged in good food, and had to rise to the occasion when necessary – that’s the kind of character he is.”

The next film about the rogueish secret agent as the working title Bond 25 and will be the last Bond movie to feature actor Daniel Craig. Today he told Good Morning Britain that he can’t let himself think beyond the current shoot schedule. “I have a movie to make and that is all that matters. Yes, it is my last one. I’m not thinking about the end. I can’t start thinking about what is going to happen in the next couple of years. We all just want to make the best movie we can.”

Yesterday, Bond producers confirmed that Rami Malek – recent Oscar winner, will be joining the cast as the villain of the next instalment of Bond’s adventures.

A gimmick

But is there a chance that we might see a Jane Bond at any stage? An emphatic no from Barbara Broccoli.  She told the ITV show,  “My response to Bond being played by a woman is, well, he was written as a man. What we should be doing is creating interesting stories for women, and not just turning men into women; or women into men. I’m very much interested in making films about women’s stories, created for women; and not doing some sort of stunt or gimmick by casting by turning Bond into a woman.”

The producers were speaking from Jamaica where the film has been shooting. Director, this time around, is Cary Joji Fukunaga (who took over from Danny Boyle) and a cast that includes regulars Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw and Jeffrey Wright. Actress Lashana Lynch has been cast as Paloma while Cuban-born actress Ana de Armas plays a character called Nomi who helps James Bond across locations in the movie including Norway, Italy and London.

“We refer to them as Bond women”

Speaking to the Mail Online, Brocolli pointed out how the women have evolved as Jame’s relationship get more complex and are not playing ‘objects”. “They are very interesting and competitive women.”

As for the title ‘Bond girl’ – does it diminish these women to only cast them as pretty side-kicks?

Eva Green, the French actress who played Vester Lynd alongside Daniel Craig in Casino Royale doesn’t think so. She admitted she hesitated over becoming a Bond girl at first because of the risk she would be labelled a ‘bimbo’ but feels now that the female characters are ‘intelligent and sassy.”

Broccoli agrees. “Some people still like to be called Bond girls; we refer to them as Bond women. They’re characters in a movie, they’re actresses. Some of the actresses still like to be referred to as “The Bond Girl. I think as we get older, it is prefered. I think when they are young, they don’t like it so much.”