Daniel Craig asks ‘why should a woman play James Bond?’, suggests ‘just as good’ roles be written for them

Hollywood star Daniel Craig has also jumped into the female-James Bond debate. The actor has questioned the need for the change up. 

For years now, fans of the franchise have debated if a woman should be brought in to play Ian Fleming’s famous spy in the movies, as Daniel prepares to hang up his boots after the upcoming No Time To Die. Daniel, however, believes that women deserve ‘just as good’ roles to be written for them.

Speaking to Radio Times, Daniel said, “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour”. He asked: “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”

Daniel’s co-star from No Time To Die, Lashana Lynch, however, had a different opinion. She told The Guardian earlier this month that the next Bond can be anyone: a man or woman, a young or old person, from any race. “We are in a place in time where the industry is not just giving audiences what it thinks the audience wants. They’re actually giving the audience what they want to give the audience. With Bond, it could be a man or woman. They could be white, black, Asian, mixed race. They could be young or old. At the end of the day, even if a two-year-old was playing Bond, everyone would flock to the cinema to see what this two-year-old’s gonna do, no?” the Captain Marvel star said.

Even Priyanka Chopra had expressed interest in playing the next Bond. When Complex asked her in 2016 if she would play the next Bond girl, she said, “I get that all the time. But f–k that — I wanna be Bond.”

Also read: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra reveals Daniel Craig auditioned for Rang De Basanti, but James Bond came calling

While a woman may or may not be the next Bond, actors Tom Hardy, Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston are still frequently mentioned among the candidates for the role.

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film also stars Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris, Jeffery Wright, Christoph Waltz, and Ralph Fiennes.

No Time To Die is slated to be released in Indian theatres on September 30.