Halle Berry has pushed back against the idea of a female James Bond over 20 years after appearing in the franchise herself.
The Hollywood star, 58, appeared as Bond girl Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson in the 2002 movie Die Another Day opposite Pierce Brosnan, the same year she became the first Black woman to win an Oscar for best actress.
But those days are firmly behind her as she gave her two pence on whether the iconic British agent, previously played by Daniel Craig, should be replaced by a female actor.
Cannes Film Festival kicked off on May 13 with Halle appearing at the jury press conference where she revealed her take on the longstanding debate.
She was asked by Variety if she would consider reprising her role as Jinx in a potential spin-off or even taking on the role of the super spy herself.
‘I don’t know if 007 should be a woman. In 2025 it’s nice to say, ‘Oh, he should be a woman.’ But I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.’
And also shut down any hopes of a spin-off, adding: ‘There was a time that that could have happened. Probably should have happened. I would have loved for that to happen.’
The Catwoman icon has not been short on praise about her time filming with her Irish co-star.
‘He restored my faith in men on that movie. There couldn’t be a human who is more of a gentleman than Pierce Brosnan,’ she said in 2024.
Then continued: ‘Having been in one, I feel like I’m a part of cinematic history. Those movies are iconic. They will forever be a part of our history, and I’m really honoured to have been a part of one – especially with Pierce.’
The Monster’s Ball star has had quite the start to the annual film festival after being forced to change her dress due to new red carpet rules which included banning nudity and ‘excessively voluminous’ clothing’.
She said about her original opening gala outfit: ‘I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train. I’m not going to break the rules. The nudity part is also probably a good rule.’
As for James Bond, Daniel appeared in his final Bond performance in 2021’s No Time To Die with fans eagerly awaiting any updates on what the next movie will look like after Amazon took over complete creative control of the franchise.
Any and all eligible British actors have had their names thrown into the mix at this point from Aaron Taylor-Johnson to Rege-Jean Page to Leo Woodall to White Lotus’ Patrick Schwarzengger.
Hey, we’ve even at the point of speculation that the likes of Gemma Collins, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have been brought up in conversation.
And, naturally, as stars like Saoirse Ronan throw their hat into the ring to appear as Bond villain, some have questioned why we can’t finally see a woman in the role.
In the latest movie, we saw Lashana Lynch even tiptoe into that territory after appearing as 007, famously Bond’s secret service title.
Legacy executive producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson stepped back recently, and new producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman took over bringing some progress along with it.
In April, Amazon execs confirmed production was going to get underway in London imminently meaning we could finally get the all-important update.
Line fo Duty star Daniel Mays said in a recent podcast: ‘Bond is a big deal right, that going to Amazon … I heard a rumor they’re going to cast someone very young and go sort of back to the origins.
‘They’re going to 60s, you’re going to have all the retro cars and that stuff – and start again. I think that would be cool.’
And the new producers have remained tight-lipped on it all, simply saying they have plans to ‘keep the spirit of Bond very much alive as he embarks on his next adventure.’
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