James Bond actor Daniel Craig recently reversed course and is now claiming that the iconic character created by Ian Fleming should not be a woman.
Speaking with Radio Times, as reported by The Independent, Craig stated “there should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour.”
He even questioned, “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
Related: Daniel Craig on the Next James Bond: “Everybody Should be Considered”
Craig previously claimed that a woman could be James Bond. Back in 2019, British tabloid The Mirror reported that Craig stated, “I think that everybody should be considered. Also for women and for African-Americans, there should be great parts anyway, across the board.”
Craig’s new comments with the Radio Times come two weeks before the next James Bond film, No Time To Die, is expected to release in theaters. The film arrives in theaters in the United States on October 8th. However, the film is expected to hit UK cinemas a week earlier on September 30th.
Related: James Bond Producer Barbara Broccoli Makes Declarative Statement on a Female 007
James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli previously stated that James Bond would never be a female. Back in 2018, Broccoli told The Guardian, “Bond is male. He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male.”
She added, “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.”
Related: Report: Captain Marvel Actress Lashana Lynch to Play 007 in New James Bond Movie
However, rumors have persisted that a female 007 will be introduced in No Time To Die. Those rumors from The Daily Mail claimed, “There is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M says ‘Come in 007’, and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman.”
Their source added, “It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he’s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman.”
On top of those rumors, Lynch did an interview with Harpers Bazaar who published a headline that declared she was taking on the role of 007. The headline stated, “Lashana Lynch on making history as the first Black female 007.”
In the article, writer Yrsa Daley-Ward also claimed, “Today, on a still Saturday morning in August, Lynch is doing precisely that, chatting to me warmly and directly about her latest – and surely career-defining – role in No Time to Die, the Bond franchise’s 25th release, in which she stars as Nomi, the secret agent who inherits the 007 title while Bond himself is in exile.”
While Lynch never specifically addressed whether she’s taking on the role of 007, she did declare that her role in the film is “very, very revolutionary.”
While discussing the backlash she has gotten following rumors that she takes on the role of 007, she stated, “I am one Black woman – if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse.”
“I just have to remind myself that the conversation is happening and that I’m a part of something that will be very, very revolutionary,” Lynch added.
Not only did Lynch claim her role would be revolutionary, but more recently she spoke to The Guardian stating that Bond could be anyone you wanted him to be, even a two-year-old.
She said, “We are in a place in time where the industry is not just giving audiences what it thinks the audience wants. They’re actually giving the audience what they want to give the audience.”
Lynch then went on to specifically address James Bond, “With Bond, it could be a man or woman. They could be white, black, Asian, mixed race. They could be young or old. At the end of the day, even if a two-year-old was playing Bond, everyone would flock to the cinema to see what this two-year-old’s gonna do, no?”
What do you make of Craig’s course reversal? Do you think he’s doing damage control for the film?