Ana De Armas: No Time To Die star says ‘there’s no need for a female Bond’

Instead, De Armas said, she hopes that the ‘female roles’ in Bond films are ‘brought to life’ differently

Ana De Armas has weighed in on whether the next James Bond should be played by a woman, after Daniel Craig’s era as 007 ended.

De Armas played the character of Paloma in Craig’s final outing as the British super spy, No Time To Die, which was released in September last year.

She will be seen next in action thriller The Gray Man, also starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Regé-Jean Page and Dhanush, before portraying Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe in the hotly anticipated Netflix biopic Blonde.

In an interview withThe Sun, De Armas was asked if Craig should be replaced by a woman, to which she said: “There’s no need for a female Bond. 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,” De Armas added, referring to Ian Fleming’s books which inspired the film franchise.

Instead, De Armas told the publication, what she 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.”

Ana De Armas and Daniel Craig in a still from ‘No Time To Die’ (UPI Media/No Time To Die)

Craig has also previously said he doesn’t think Bond should be played by a woman.

Speaking to Radio Times last year, Craig said “there should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour” in the movies.

He questioned: “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”

Others, including the franchise’s producer Barbara Broccoli, agree. In a 2020 interview with Variety, she said: “James Bond can be of any colour, but he is male.”

She explained this is because she’d rather create new characters for women to portray, rather than have a woman play a role originally written as male.

The debate over representation and the future recasting of the spy character has rumbled on for years, with some fans suggesting a woman could take over the iconic role.

However, the idea has also sparked a backlash from critics who either say it would do the character a disservice, or that there are better ways of improving representation onscreen.