Helen Mirren Doesn't Think A Woman Should Be Cast As The Next James Bond: ‘It Just Doesn't Work'
'I'm such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy,' Mirren, who plays a retired spy in The Thursday Murder Club opposite four-time Bond star Pierce Brosnan, 72, told Saga magazine on August 18.
'You can't have a woman. It just doesn't work,' she continued. 'James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else.'
The actress, 80, told the magazine that her character in the new Netflix show is 'more realistic' than 007.
'Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service, they always have been. And very brave,' Mirren told The Standard in March, adding that the Bond franchise 'is drenched and born out of profound sexism.'
'If you hear about what women did in the French Resistance, they're amazingly, unbelievably courageous,' the MobLand star explained. 'So I would tell real stories about extraordinary women who've worked in that world.'
The role remains highly sought-after among male actors, with Tom Holland, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jacob Elordi all rumored to be potential replacements for Daniel Craig.
Whoever lands the gig, 'I wish them well,' Brosnan — who played the character in 1995's Goldeneye, 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999's The World Is Not Enough and 2002's Die Another Day — told Saga.
'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,' he said. 'And I'm just a member of the audience now, sitting back, saying: 'Show us what you're going to do.''
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