Daniel Craig: Sexist Monster Or Champion Of Women?
He says "No" to a female James Bond, but his take is actually pretty nuanced.
Daniel Craig was asked recently whether or not he thinks a woman should be cast as the iconic British spy, James Bond. He replied:
“The answer to that is very simple,” Craig says in an interview with 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?”
I think this is a quite sensible position to take and one I’ve taken on numerous issues. When I’ve written in the past about diversity and representation, I’ve pointed out that simply adding black characters to a game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance wouldn’t really create a more “diverse” game—it would be tokenism, pure and simple. Why not make an RPG set in a fantastical Africa instead?
The Netflix zombie period drama Kingdom is another example I like to use. It’s entirely Korean, but adding in black or white or Hispanic people wouldn’t make it a more “diverse” show—the fact is, the show itself adds to the diversity of stories we have at our fingertips now, from countless different cultures and backgrounds. True diversity isn’t token representation, it’s finding ways to have as many different kind of storytellers and creators share their work as possible, and I think we’re on the right track in that regard.
The best argument I’ve read against what Craig says is a practical one: Bond is iconic, a famous character that inspires big budgets and ticket sales. Creating a new character—and especially a female action lead—is hard work and risky. As ScreenRant’s Craig Elvy notes that most of the female-led action movies that we’ve seen recently haven’t done so well and are running on lower-than-ideal budgets. When they flop, it could actually make studios less likely to invest in future female-led action movies.
Writes Elvy:
On the other hand, James Bond boasts a storied history, blockbuster muscle and a marketing budget the size of Bond's Aston Martin repair bill. Casting a female in the 007 role isn't just a statement of intent for on-screen equality, it's an infinitely bigger platform than an original IP could ever provide, and does a great deal more to close the gender gap. This is why Jodie Whittaker fronting Doctor Who on prime-time weekend TV does more to break genre stereotypes than the same actress appearing in a low budget time travel sci-fi series at 11pm on a Friday night. Daniel Craig isn't wrong - his argument just doesn't reach far enough. Female actors should have access to roles as big as Bond, but the best way to achieve that is with major franchises leading the way.
On the one hand, sure, this makes perfect sense. On the other, it isn’t like there are no successful female-led action movies out there. Alien was huge and an original IP and it came out in 1979. Audiences weren’t deterred by Sigourney Weaver playing the lead role.
More recently, we’ve seen Wonder Woman, Black Widow and a number of other female-led superhero films that have all done pretty well (though Wonder Woman 1984 was hot garbage). Those are established characters but they seem to appeal to wide audiences. Surely with the right talent and budget and marketing, a female James Bond analog (or John Wick or whatever) could turn heads and sell tickets. That’s not easy but it’s not impossible, either.
I really don’t care, honestly, if James Bond gets a female iteration or if Idris Elba gets the part (he’s probably too old, though) so whatever happens, so long as they can play the part and remain a boozy womanizer (lesbian James Bond would definitely sell tickets) I’m happy with it. I’m more afraid they’ll neuter the role, make him (or her) a boring do-gooder.
Craig also commented on the addition of Phoebe Waller-Bridge to the writing team.
She’s got devilish humor. Her influence permeates a lot of this film. She walked that fantastic line of keeping it as a thriller and being very funny. But Phoebe didn’t come in to change Bond. She came in to spice it up for sure, but she’s a Bond fan—she wasn’t about to take him in a different direction.
I didn’t even know she was writing this one but I think Phoebe Waller-Bridge is hilarious and intelligent and Fleabag was a cutting, raunchy, truly unique dramedy, so this is great news.
No Time To Die comes out on October 8th.
I made a video about this one also so please do check that out and subscribe to my YouTube channel here. Thanks!
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Disappointed in the energy expended in debating a female Bond.
Talk is often either mental masturbation or virtue signaling.
Came from the business world which was a male bastion.
Slowly things got fairer because society changed.
Not because CEO's gave interviews, but because the rank and file bought into fairness.
I once overpromoted a woman.
A few men got angry and left (I didn't prepare the ground well enough).
But the woman flailed in the job - she just wasn't ready or prepared for the requirements.
Consequences: I let down the shareholders by not getting the right person; I was embarrassed; the woman was embarrassed; and the chauvinists were empowered.
Conclusion for me.
Pick the right person everytime, but never forget the long term objective: fairness.
Idris Elba's too old? You do realize he's three years *younger* than Daniel Craig?
For the record I think he'd make a fine Bond, especially if the want to contine in the vein of Skyfall (Not seen the newer ones) where Bond's getting on in years, and needs to step up to the plate.
But I understand what you mean. Bond is consistently described as "in his late-30s" throughout the source material, so you really need to put out a casting call based on that when refreshing the series.
But that source material is kind of the problem. Ian Fleming wrote the Bond books, with a nod to his (as of yet still classified) experiences as an intelligence officer during WW2. Not that would be insurmountable for a woman to take on the role. And there were plenty of female intelligence officers who served both then and now. Still, the more you move from the source material... why not just use different source material?
Besides, weren't they at one point, intending to spin off Hallie Berry's character in "Die Another Day" into hew own series of films? Whatever happened to that?