Profound sexism : Helen Mirren says James Bond is too toxic to be played by a woman

Get the Full StoryRumors of James Bond being played by a woman have swirled around for decades, though it doesn t appear there s ever been an actual push to make them a reality. The closest the franchise has gotten is Lashana Lynch s Nomi in No Time to Die, who was even awarded the 007 number after Bond s retirement. With Amazon set to shake up the franchise, the discussion about Bond s possible future has reared its head once more, though his next incarnation is almost certainly going to be male. And, at least as far as screen legend Helen Mirren is concerned, that s the way it should stay. But unlike many, she s not opposed to a female Bond because it d ruin the character or because of tradition, it s because Bond is historically too toxic a character to be genderbent on screen. Speaking to The Evening Standard, she was quizzed about her role in Paramount Plus show MobLand, in which former Bond Pierce Brosnan is her on-screen husband. When asked her opinion of James Bond and his future under Jeff Bezos, Mirren was dismissive, saying she s never been a Bond fan: The whole series of James Bond, it was not my thing. It really wasn t. I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond. Mirren went on to dismiss the notion of a female Bond in favor of telling the stories of real women who worked in espionage: The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism. Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service, they always have been. And very brave. If you hear about what women did in the French Resistance, they re amazingly, unbelievably courageous. So I would tell real stories about extraordinary women who ve worked in that world. Despite the Amazon purchase, James Bond is currently on shaky ground. The next instalment doesn t have a director, script, or lead actor and there s a looming deadline of 2035, when all of Ian Fleming s original novels will enter the public domain. This means any studio will be able to make a James Bond movie that adapts the books, but won t be able to use elements introduced in the films like the gun barrel opening sequence or any of the music. Even so, this must be lighting a fire under Amazon, which will be dead set on spending the next ten years wringing every drop of profit out of Bond. Expect the next movie to be fast-tracked, with spinoff TV shows almost certainly already in the pipeline.

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