The next James Bond movie is beginning to take shape. Amazon MGM has Denis Villeneuve directing. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is writing the script. The search for the next 007 is even rumored to be zeroing in on an actor. But, there are a few other Bond staples that need to be lined up before we can get the Aston Martin on the road. Who will be M? Which actress is going to portray Moneypenny? And the obvious next question, which actress is going to be the next Bond girl? The tradition of Bond girls has run the gamut from fellow secret agents who pop in to give Bond a hand to completely miscast nuclear physicists. One actress has her hand up for the job, but she doesn’t want to be just another piece of eye candy for the MI6 agent to seduce. She wants to be the kind of Bond girl we haven’t seen in 27 years. This Oscar nominee wants to be the heavy.
Saoirse Ronan wants to be the next major Bond villain. Not a henchwoman. Not a double agent who switches sides. The actress told Empire Magazineshe is “dead serious” about wanting to take on the famed 007. The actress has played in the world of spycraft and assassinations before with Hanna, where she portrayed the eponymous underage hit-girl trying to escape her minders. There has been no indication the actress is actually in talks for the film. Amy Pascal has suggested the next Bond could be announced by the end of the year, but Villeneuve and Knight are still ironing out the script, so the supporting cast is nowhere near finalized. Still, a four-time Oscar nominee openly volunteering to make Bond’s life hell is an offer M would be hard-pressed to overlook.
Bond has faced plenty of dangerous women over the years. Rosa Klebb tried to kill Sean Connery’s double-o with a poisoned shoe in From Russia with Love. Xenia Onatopp almost made Pierce Brosnan tap out when she got him locked between her lethal legs in GoldenEye. Miranda Frost betrays him and her country in Die Another Day. Those roles made for memorable moments, but they were henchwomen and secondary antagonists, usually balanced against the “good” Bond girls. Sophie Marceau’s Elektra King was different.
The World is Not Enough initially presents Marceau as another Bond girl in need of protection. Robert Carlyle’s Renard looks like the on-brand villain since he’s a terrorist that can’t feel pain. Meanwhile Bond appears to catch some feelings for Elektra King, prepping the traditional trope of killing one of the Bond girls to set stakes. Then the movie flips the script and shows that she’s the bad guy. That made her the first woman to occupy the traditional main-villain role in franchise history. No Bond movie has done it again since 1999.
Award-Worthy Villainy
Focus Features
Ronan’s pitch to be an adversary rather than a disposable Bond girl is precisely the kind of subversion the franchise needs. The next film in the 007 series will be resetting nearly everything after Daniel Craig’s five-film run. It also has the potential to reset the gender dynamics and create a memorable baddie that isn’t after Bond for his charm or smoldering good looks. A younger female mastermind with an eye on world domination would immediately separate Villeneuve’s first double-o outing from the Craig era.
It wouldn’t be the first time an Oscar-nominated actress has wanted to match wits with James Bond. Halle Berry was recruited into Die Another Day fresh off her Oscar win for Monster’s Ball. Her character Jinx was positioned as 007’s equal and partner. MGM pushed the prestige casting even further during the Daniel Craig films with over-the-top performances from Oscar winners Javier Bardem, Christoph Waltz, and Rami Malek.
Ronan fits the mold. The franchise has been handing accomplished actors larger-than-life roles, then letting them chew the scenery like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. The only difference here is that Ronan is lobbying for a part the franchise almost never gives women. She doesn’t want to be the complication in Bond’s mission. She wants to be the mission.
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