Ana de Armas Says “There’s No Need” For A Female James Bond, But Women Need More Recognition In The Franchise

Was Ana de Armas the most memorable Bond Girl of recent memory? The actress was only in last year’s “No Time To Die” for a scant fifteen minutes or less, playing off of Daniel Craig‘s James Bond during a mission in Cuba. But what a memorable fifteen minutes it was. De Armas’ Paloma did it all (arguably better than Bond), and in a little black dress to boot. So, does that make the agent-in-training a suitable choice to replace Bond in upcoming movies?

READ MORE: Barbara Broccoli Says Next James Bond Film Is “At Least Two Years Away” And Is A “Reinvention”

Not quite, says de Armas. “There’s no need for a female Bond,” the actress told EW in a recent interview, “There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character, you know, to take over. This is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at.” In other words, if Bond became a woman, something would get lost in translation with the character going from male to female.

Instead, de Armas calls for something else: more substantial roles for women in the Bond universe. “What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life in a different way,” she continued, “That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things.” So, part for women in Bond films that aren’t merely arm candy for the super-spy.  

Hasn’t that arguably already happened? Beyond Paloma, “No Time To Die” also had Lashana Lynch as Nomi, an MI-6 agent who has taken over Bond’s “007” agent number.  Léa Seydoux‘s Madeleine Swann is also a Bond Girl with a meatier part than most. Swann’s complicated backstory and relationship with Bond give her character more nuance than being a mere damsel in distress or a beautiful woman for Bond to bed. Her, Nomi, and Paloma each resemble the substantial parts that de Armas wants in the franchise. However, all three appear in just one movie, so as great as these parts are, critics can’t call them a trend quite yet.

Still, de Armas’ commentary on the spy franchise echoes the sentiments of long-time Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, who doubts a woman will ever play Bond. “Bond is male,” she told The Guardian in 2018, “He’s a male character. He was written as a male, and I think he’ll probably stay a male. And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women.” However, Broccoli also added, “Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.” “No Time To Die” certainly was that kind of story, but now that Craig’s time as Bond is over, speculation abounds as to who will replace him.

Franchise fans won’t have an answer to that question for a long time. Just last month, Broccoli said that production for the next Bond film is at least two years away, if not longer. And “nobody’s in the running” for the role right now, male or female, but that won’t keep people from wondering what the next iteration of Bond will be.

Catch de Armas in “The Gray Man,” out on Netflix tomorrow. She also stars as Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik‘s biopic “Blonde,” which is almost a definite lock to compete at the Venice Film Festival next month.