Daniel Craig has just said goodbye to playing one of the most iconic characters in the world, James Bond. But he's not leaving the role without shedding some light on one of the most important aspects in the whole Bond franchise, the Bond girls. Craig hopes that he's leaving Bond with a new and refreshed outlook on the female character that has gotten just as many reincarnations as Bond himself. However, he doesn't think there should be a female 007, and some fans seem to agree.
There have been tons of Bond girls over the decades, some better than others, but what does Craig think about the character, and where does he see her going in the franchise's future?
Daniel Craig Says Bond Girls Don't Exist In His James Bond Films
There's one thing about his James Bond films that Craig says many people get wrong. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, shortly after hanging up James Bond for good, Craig said he feels he has to constantly correct people about one aspect in his Bond films, "No more Bond girls."
"They don't exist anymore," he explained. "They may exist again, but not in my movies."
"Presumably, Craig is referring to the evolution of the female characters in this film, and the fact that the women, who were once often sexual objects, femme fatales, and damsels-in-distress across the franchise, have become a whole lot more complex," Entertainment Weekly wrote. That would certainly be something to be proud of closing out years of playing a very male character.
No Time to Die saw some of the strongest Bond girls in the history of James Bond. So, we can understand Craig's frustration over people still wanting to over-sexualize the females in the franchise. The newest Bond film has seen not only the most Bond girls in one Bond film, but also a Cuban Bond girl, Paloma, played by Ana de Armas, two black Bond girls, Naomie Harris reprising her role as Moneypenny, and newcomer Lashana Lynch playing a female 007, and the return of Dr. Madeleine Swann, played by Lea Seydoux.
Collectively, all of No Time to Die's Bond girls have changed the franchise's narrative, and Seydoux says that took a lot of work. They essentially had to get rid of the male gaze.
Seydoux told Yahoo! News that the female characters in the Bond franchise must be "real women." Speaking about how her character is the only Bond Girl to reprise her role, Seydoux said, "It's the first time that we see a woman in a Bond film that is just like a real woman – a real woman you can relate to. She has depth and vulnerability, which is very new for a James Bond female character, because they used to be a bit objectified and maybe idealized. This time, she's not seen through a man's perspective. We got rid of the male gaze. She has become just as interesting as other leads in the film, and I hope that people will connect to her emotionally."
Daniel Craig Doesn't Think A Female Should Play 007
Speaking to Radio Times about who should take on 007 now that he's made his exit, Craig replied that it probably shouldn't be a female, even though there are plenty of fans who've championed the idea. The franchise's producer Barbara Broccoli is committed to keeping the character a male, and Craig agrees.
"The answer to that is very simple," Craig told Radio Times. "There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?"
"He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male," Broccoli told The Guardian. "And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters."
Touching on Lynch's 007, Seydoux said, "It's great! They're not sexualized, you know, or objectified. Lashana could have been a man in the story. And she's a woman and it doesn't really change. The fact that she's a woman doesn't really matter. I think that's important. She's an interesting character. No matter if she's a woman or a man, she's just an agent and a strong character. She has a very strong personality and she's very charismatic. Lashana and my character are very different. She's a 007 agent, but she's also a character with consistency. You have access to her emotions, and she's not only the good-looking girl in a bathing suit."
Craig Doesn't Use The Term 'Bond Girl'
Craig is not only proud that his Bond films have changed the Bond girl narrative, but he's also proud to never use the term ever. While promoting No Time to Die, Craig said, "I don't even call them Bond girls. I'm not going to deny it to anybody else. It's just, I can't have a sensible conversation with somebody if we're talking about 'Bond girls.'"
So, if someone were to ask Craig who his favorite Bond girl was or how they all ranked, odds are you're not going to get a response from the actor, which is commendable.
All in all, Craig has supported every female he's worked with on his Bond films and thinks there should be less sexualizing of them. He even thinks there should be a female version of Bond, just not someone called 007, understandably. It's sad that Craig is gone from the franchise because he probably would have helped make the women of Bond even stronger through the years.