While change is sometimes good, other times it’s best to leave things alone. And when it comes to James Bond, Dame Helen Mirren has made her thoughts clear - Bond is better as a man.
"I’m such a feminist," the Oscar winner told Saga Magazine, "But you can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work. James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else."
Dame Helen’s comments weren’t out of the blue. She was speaking with the magazine while promoting her upcoming Netflix film, The Thursday Murder Club, in which she plays a retired spy.
She told the magazine, "So many women have worked in that world. She's a manifestation of a reality, that's for sure" but added that her take on playing a spy is "more realistic but not so much fun as Bond!"
Dame Helen knows a thing or two about taking on a gender-swapped iconic role. In 2010, the Oscar winner starred as Prospero, Shakespeare’s vengeful protagonist from The Tempest for a film adaptation.
Prospero was written as a male, an outcast Duke of Milan, but has since been played by another Hollywood woman, Sigourney Weaver, in her 2024 West End debut.
Still, Dame Helen had some support in her stance on 007 remaining as he is - and this was coming from someone who knows the franchise well.
Her fellow The Thursday Murder Club co-star, Pierce Brosnan, stepped into the suave shoes of Britain’s best spy for four films - GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.
He shared Helen’s views, adding, "I’m so excited to see the next man come on the stage and to see a whole new exuberance and life for this character."
"I adore the world of James Bond," he continued, "It’s been very good to me. It’s the gift that keeps giving. And I’m just a member of the audience now, sitting back, saying: 'Show us what you’re going to do.'"
Another screen icon familiar with the world of 007 has previously echoed similar sentiments.
Halle Berry, who starred in Die Another Day alongside Pierce, told a Cannes Film Festival press conference in May, "In 2025, it’s nice to say, 'Oh, she should be a woman'. But I don’t really know if I think that’s the right thing to do."
The rumour mill about who could be the next Bond - replacing Daniel Craig, who wrapped up his 15-year tenure with 2021's No Time to Die - has been in overdrive ever since stepsiblings Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson sold the rights to Bond for a reported $1BN to Amazon. Bond’s film rights had previously been with the Broccoli family for over 60 years.
Not much is known about Amazon’s first foray into 007, but it’s been reported that Denis Villeneuve (Dune) is set to direct, with the creator of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight, writing the script.
As for who could play Bond? Everyone from Aaron Taylor-Johnson to Henry Cavill and Tom Holland have been floated.
While we wait for that news, fans can tune in to see former 007, Pierce Brosnan, alongside Dame Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, and David Tenant in The Thursday Murder Club, releasing on 22 August on Netflix.
The film is based on the debut novel from Richard Osman, about a group of pensioners who try to solve the mystery of the murder of a property developer in their retirement village.
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