Sorry, ladies, there’s one job Helen Mirren thinks you needn’t fill.
The renowned British actress revealed in a recent interview that she doesn’t think a woman could play James Bond. The fictional spy, who has been played over decades by a rotating cast of A-listers including Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, has yet to be embodied by a woman.
Mirren, 80, thinks that’s as it should be, telling Saga Magazine, in an interview published Aug. 18, that “James Bond has to be a guy.”
Mirren, who is herself playing a detective in the upcoming film “Thursday Murder Club” (in theaters Aug. 28), was interviewed alongside Brosnan, who also appears in the movie.
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“I’m such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy. You can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work,” she said. “James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else.”
Mirren did add that her latest character, a retired spy named Elizabeth, was a true representation of women who populated the world of espionage.
“So many women have worked in that world. She’s a manifestation of a reality, that’s for sure,” she told the outlet, adding that her portrayal is probably more true to life than the theatrics of 007.
“More realistic. But not so much fun as Bond!” she quipped.
This is not Mirren’s first time wading into the Bond world. In a March interview with the Standard, the actress urged the writing of more movies about real-life women spies in place of a female 007.
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“The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism,” she told the outlet. “Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service, they always have been. And very brave. 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.”
Mirren’s comments come amid questions of who will play Bond next after Craig retired from the role in 2021’s “No Time to Die.” In the past, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has ruled out the possibility of a woman succeeding Craig in the role.
But in February, Broccoli and her producing partner Michael G. Wilson stepped back from the franchise and handed creative control to Amazon, leaving it unclear what the casting criteria will be under the new leadership.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Helen Mirren: James Bond ‘has to be a guy’
