Daniel Craig Doesn’t Think James Bond Should Be Played By A Woman

James Bond actor Daniel Craig doesn’t think the character should be played by a woman, but for a specific reason. The star sat down with Radio Times to speak about No Time To Die and what the future holds for his career. When the topic of a female Bond popped up, Craig argued that entertainment should be making some better parts for women and actors of color. His argument was basically asking why there aren’t “lofty roles” like 007 for women already. While that is pragmatic in a way. One of the main facets of Hollywood at the moment is to lean into legacy properties like Bond. So, someone would have to take a chance on making a new franchise based on those sorts of decisions. (With a great story and winning characters, of course.) It’s a discussion that has raged a lot over the last few years as conversations around representation have continued to evolve. Just a few years ago, the Internet had a lot of fans rallying for Idris Elba to get a crack at the role. Now, some people wish they could see Lashana Lynch’s character get her turn after Craig’s swan song.

“The answer to that is very simple,” the Bond actor began. “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?”

Barbara Broccoli is the producer for the long-running series now. She’s been asked about these sorts of questions for multiple years. When the topic came up in a Variety roundtable last year, the producer made it very play that the character was male.

“He can be of any color, but he is male,” Broccoli stated. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”

In some previous comments to The Guardian, the producer said much of the same back in 2018.

“Bond is male,” Broccoli stated. “He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male… 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.”

“Look at the way the world has changed,” Broccoli said. “And I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times. I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.”

Do you think a woman should get a chance to be Bond? Let us know down in the comments!