Not stirred.
Helen Mirren has criticized the James Bond franchise for “profound sexism” while also saying she doesn’t believe the next 007 should be female.
The Oscar-winner, 79, spoke about the famed fictional spy in an interview promoting her new series “MobLand,” which she stars in alongside Pierce Brosnan, 71, who played Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002.
“I have to say I was never a great ward [of Bond],” Mirren told The Standard. “I’m a huge fan of Pierce Brosnan, I mean massive fan. I mean, oh my god.”
She continued, “Obviously, he’s gorgeous and everything, and I think he’s fabulous in ‘MobLand,’ but he also happens to be one of the nicest people you’ll ever have the pleasure to work with. And indeed Daniel Craig, who I’ve met and know a little bit. Again, a very lovely gracious person.”
However, the franchise’s treatment of women never sat right with her.
“The whole series of James Bond, it was not my thing,” she said. “It really wasn’t. I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond.”
Explaining why she’s opposed to a female 007, Mirren added, “The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism.”
Rather than changing the British secret agent’s gender, Mirren suggested filmmakers tell the stories of actual female spies.
“Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service, they always have been. And very brave,” the “1923” star said. “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.”
Chatter about a woman taking over the iconic role — a perennial topic of conversation among Bond aficionados and Hollywood prognosticators — has spiked in the past month following the stunning news that 007 producers and gatekeepers Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson ceded control over the character’s creative destiny to Amazon MGM Studios for a cool $1 billion.
Though Amazon got access to the Bond IP when it bought MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022, Broccoli and Wilson had the final say on big decisions such as casting before the new deal was announced.
Weeks later, Amazon MGM Studios chief Jennifer Salke stepped down from her role, with many industry insiders claiming that her behind-the-scenes battles with Broccoli over Bond’s future led Prime Video head Mike Hopkins to lose faith in the Hollywood vet.
Broccoli reportedly rebuffed a suggestion by Salke to make 007 female. Prior to passing the baton to Amazon, the British-American producer has also publicly insisted that Bond “is male” while noting, “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters.”
Gemma Arterton, who played Bond girl and British spy Strawberry Fields in 2008’s “Quantum of Solace” opposite Craig, 57, has similarly opposed a female 007.
“Isn’t a female James Bond like Mary Poppins being played by a man?” she asked during an interview with the UK’s The Times last December. “They talk about it, but I think people would find it too outrageous.
“Sometimes you just have to respect the tradition,” she added.
Craig is also on record saying he’s not a fan of a possible Jane Bond.
“Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?” he asked Radio Times in 2021.
No actor has yet to be named as Craig’s her following his final bow as Bond in 2021’s “No Time To Die.”
