The first black James Bond girl Trina Parks disagreed with the idea that Captain Marvel actress Lashana Lynch should become 007 in the upcoming James Bond film. Parks played Thumper alongside Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever.
A report broke earlier this month indicating the Captain Marvel actress would take on the role of Agent 007 after Daniel Craig’s James Bond retires to Jamaica.
Parks spoke with The Daily Mail where she was pointed in her disagreement with Lynch taking on the role of Agent 007.
She stated, “Lashana is a great actress, but I don’t really agree with her becoming 007. It’s not about her colour – a black James Bond, sure. But as a man.”
Parks continued, “It’s just because Bond, the spy code named 007, was written by Ian Fleming as a man. Miss Bond doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
She also noted the James Bond franchise should not follow the current Hollywood trends showing women defeating a male adversary.
“I think that there are lots of movies already where you have a woman taking center stage, defeating men – and I like that. But I don’t feel James Bond has to go there. It’s been a tremendous franchise since the 60s, and they’ve always been innovators not followers. They set a standard – that has remained a classic film with a man as Bond. That’s how I think it should stay.”
Parks would go on to praise the Bond franchise and its original producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, while taking shots at other Hollywood production studios in 70s.
“The Bond franchise has gone out of the box with black actors and women of colour more than any other. Eon’s outlook on life and the world has always been much broader than many of the big studios. In Hollywood, production executives were looking at women who were sexually attractive to their societal circles. Cubby was one of only a few who saw beyond that – and they could see black actresses as character actresses. Back then most producers just had this tunnel vision casting of hiring the same looking women. But in England people were more open to age, ethnicity and color. Other cultures too were included in their stories. People forget Bond married a Japanese woman in You Only Live Twice and then had me as the first black woman in the franchise in 1971. Now it is commonplace to see ethnicity in all the Bonds.”
She did express her interest to return to the Bond franchise as Thumper:
“I’d love a cameo in a new film – to return as Thumper, because I wasn’t killed. She could be training the next batch of Spectre female assassins.”
As for her favorite Bond, it’s a no brainer in Connery for her.
“I prefer the Bond of my generation, it’s only natural. I do like Sean the best as he was the tall, dark, handsome… and raw Bond.”