During a recent interview, famous actress Denise Richards let it be known that she does not support the idea of a female Bond, saying that the idea isn’t congruent with the book series Bond is based on. That interview was meant to highlight her new series, “Paper Empire,” which is about a crypto scammer.
Her comments on a female Bond came when, during that interview, she was asked if, now that Daniel Craig has retired from the franchise, there should be a female Bond. Her answer was an emphatic “no,” without reservation. She said:
“Definitely a male Bond, I’m sorry. And I might get a lot of flack for this. But the fact of the matter is the Bond franchise was based off of a book franchise and Bond was male in the books and I believe [they should] continue with that. I do, and people may shit on me for it, but I believe it. They could do a spin-off where a Bond girl becomes the female Bond. But I think James Bond is James Bond.”
Variety also reported on Richards’ brief career as a Bond girl and how she responds to criticism of her role in “The World is Not Enough,” saying:
Nowhere is that change more obvious than in the James Bond universe (of which Richards was once a part) where the latest film, “No Time to Die,” has even seen a woman – Lashana Lynch – briefly take on the 007 mantle. Richards, who starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in 1999 Bond film “The World is Not Enough,” recalls getting “panned” for her performance as scientist Dr. Christmas Jones, a role in which she sported shorts and a midriff-baring vest. “It broke my heart that people were making fun of me,” she says, recalling some of the barbs: “‘Oh, really? You’re wearing shorts and you’re a nuclear scientist?’”
“I’m playing a Bond girl,” she says in response to the criticism. “If I wore a lab coat and pants and a suit, then [fans] would have been upset, like, ‘Okay, why isn’t she looking like a sexy Bond girl?’”
Daniel Craig had a similar response to Richards. When asked about whether there should be a black or female Bond, he said, “The answer to that is very simple. 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, but for a woman?”
Unfortunately, it looks like they might just make 007 a different character to make a movie about a black/female/whatever spy that can cash in on Bond’s popularity, as “Den of Geek” suggested in an article on Craig’s comments, saying:
Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that while Craig and at least one-half of Bond’s key producing think Bond should remain male, they said nothing about 007. Indeed, Lynch’s casting as Nomi has already shown the moniker of 007 can be passed to a different agent. So who’s to say she cannot remain 007, and perhaps the next several 007 adventures follow the character of Nomi as the new international superspy? As Craig says, let’s have better parts for women and actors of color. They can introduce a new Bond, but the codename of 007 is taken, thank you.
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