Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren talk partnership on ‘1923’
Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, stars of the Paramount+ show, “1923,” explain why their characters’ relationship has resonated with viewers.
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The name’s Bond, Jane Bond? Not if Helen Mirren has anything to say about it.
The “1923” star, 79, voiced objections to the idea of there being a female James Bond in an interview with The Standard, calling instead for more films about real women from the world of espionage.
“The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism,” she said. “Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service, they always have been. And very brave. If you hear about what women did in the French Resistance, they’re amazingly, unbelievably courageous. So I would tell real stories about extraordinary women who’ve worked in that world.”
Though Mirren stars alongside former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan in the Paramount+ show “MobLand,” she admitted she is no fan of the spy franchise. Mirren’s late cousin, Tania Mallet, was also a “Bond girl” in “Goldfinger.”
“The whole series of James Bond, it was not my thing,” Mirren told The Standard. “It really wasn’t. I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond.”
The actress did note, though, she’s a “massive fan” of Brosnan and that Daniel Craig, the most recent Bond actor, is a “lovely gracious person.”
Mirren’s comments come amid questions of who will play Bond next after Craig retired from the role in 2021’s “No Time to Die.” In the past, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has ruled out the possibility of a woman succeeding Craig in the role.
“(Bond) can be of any color, but he is male,” she told Variety in 2020. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
But in February, Broccoli and her producing partner Michael G. Wilson stepped back from the franchise and handed creative control to Amazon, leaving it unclear what the casting criteria is under the new leadership. Just after news that Amazon had taken full control of Bond was announced, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos posted on X, “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”
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