# 007 will be played by a Black actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078 "2019-07-14T19:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/61 "2019-07-15T02:50:46Z")
I hope it’s a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/62 "2019-07-15T02:56:57Z")
If they’re going to do a show about MI6 in a “#metoo world”…its M that should be embroiled in it. He’s the public face, and ripe for scandals and being hamstrung and I’d applaud if the angle was a satirical one (Narf, like that will happen) M: Before you return Bond, you need to attend all these mandatory classes and publically apologize on Twitter about these drunk posts of yours we dug up. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/63 "2019-07-15T02:58:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Really, if you wanted to update the Bond films to the present day, the Chinese government would be as likely to be the antagonists as the Russian government. It’s just that the movie studio wants to release the movie in China. That I would like to see. It would help make up for the one where Connery does the _yellow face_ nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/64 "2019-07-15T03:45:57Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@aceplace57](#): > > Maybe so. Let’s see how it goes. > > I’ve seen every Bond premier in a theater since Live and Let Die. I saw the earlier ones on TV. What part of “do not return to this thread” was unclear? Here’s that Warning I promised you. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/65 "2019-07-15T03:53:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Anyone else remember how in 2015 (just prior to the release of Spectre) Daniel Craig was hilariously emphatic that he’d [never do another Bond film](https://www.timeout.com/london/film/daniel-craig-interview-my-advice-to-the-next-james-bond-dont-be-shit)? “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.” > > Guess he changed his mind. Here is how these things happen: 1. It takes Daniel Craig over a year of his life at this point to make a Bond movie. He is involved in pre and post production as well. 2. SPECTRE was very, very draining. And honestly, its second half was weak and disappointing. I bet Craig knew this. I am hoping this one makes up for it(like Star Trek VI tried to do after the dismal V). 3. People say things when they are tired right after something and then take a break and get the energy to go back to work. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/66 "2019-07-15T03:57:33Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Here is how these things happen: > > 1. It takes Daniel Craig over a year of his life at this point to make a Bond movie. He is involved in pre and post production as well. > > 2. SPECTRE was very, very draining. And honestly, its second half was weak and disappointing. I bet Craig knew this. I am hoping this one makes up for it(like Star Trek VI tried to do after the dismal V). > > 3. People say things when they are tired right after something and then take a break and get the energy to go back to work. 2.5. A dump truck full of money pulls up to your front lawn… ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/67 "2019-07-15T03:59:41Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > “Bond is having to learn to deal with the world of #metoo” > > 1. Didn’t Austin Powers do that 20+ years ago?? > > 2. Why would Bond give a flying fuck about that??? He SAVES THE WORLD. That’s why he has a licence to kill. Along with that comes a licence to fuck, drink and do anything he damn well pleases to…again…SAVE THE WORLD. > > 3. Why are the producers spoiling the GD movie? > > 4. Again…this was already sort of covered with Pierce Brosnan. I’ve only seen the first three Craig movies, and from what I recall, Bond is a broken alcoholic who doesn’t particularly fuck his way through the movies. He used that one woman he got killed in Casino (and felt the appropriate amount of guilt a broken aloholic who saves the world feels.) And of course was genuinely in love with Vesper. > I predict this will feature an Abrams-level deconstruction of Craig/Bond and be an utter disaster that will be blamed on the Patriarchy. So, not your cuppa basically? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/68 "2019-07-15T04:02:34Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > So, not your cuppa basically? Its a fair cop. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/69 "2019-07-15T04:23:01Z")
If Phoebe Waller Bridge is involved, I’ll consider seeing this, my first James Bond/ 007 movie since Never Say Never Again. I think worrying whether the actress is attractive enough is silly (though she looks perfectly fine to me). If the actress is good enough, she’ll make it work. Charisma is what carries the role. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/70 "2019-07-15T04:41:39Z")
Splitting 007 from James Bond was done in the awful psychedelic Casino Royale and is tainted by that association. I had hoped Noemie Harris would get more screen time and maybe be another 00 agent, but no, she was Moneypenny. I don’t think Lynch can carry a movie. And having Craig ‘save’ her would stink. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/71 "2019-07-15T04:49:07Z")
I’ll see just about any 007 movie, and thought Lynch was good in a supporting role in _Captain Marvel,_ so I’m willing to give her a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/72 "2019-07-15T05:27:11Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > I also have no idea who the actress is, however, they should’ve picked a much better looking one. Looks have always been part of the character Yeah, specifically looking suave, sexy, sophisticated and tough, which AFAICT [Lashana Lynch handles quite nicely](https://whatculture.com/film/bond-25-lashana-lynch-to-be-new-007). But not “gorgeous” or “stunning” in a matinee-idol way: that’s not Bond. Look at Daniel Craig as the most recent Bond, for instance: he’s virile but definitely not conventionally handsome. Bond has always been (presented as) a sexy guy but not a pretty boy, and IMHO the new 007 shouldn’t be a pretty girl. > [@Ají de Gallina](#): > > maybe Maisie Richardson-Sellers or Camille Hyde? Freema Agyeman? All too much in the “pretty girl” camp as far as looks are concerned, IMHO. And Hyde in particular looks (and is) much too young at 25 to play a jaded thirtysomething secret-agent assassin. A lot of guys seem to be thinking along the lines that if 007 can’t be James Bond, she should at least be a “Bond girl”, so if they can’t identify with the protagonist as a man they can at least view her as a fantasy-object hot woman. Not surprisingly, as that’s what decades of such movies have conditioned men to expect. It will be interesting to see if the moviemakers really buck that expectation by making the new 007 as assertive and unapologetic as the male Bond. (Can you imagine what Bond on an undercover mission would have said to a new handler who complained that “they should’ve picked a much better looking one”? 😛 I’d enjoy seeing Lynch’s 007 reacting the same way.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/73 "2019-07-15T05:40:13Z")
Storm in a teacup. We all know Bond will revert to being 007 at the end of the movie. I just want spin-offs about other agents and staff at MI6 (or whatever the heck the fictional branch of the agency is called these days). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/74 "2019-07-15T06:06:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Storm in a teacup. We all know Bond will revert to being 007 at the end of the movie. Probably true. Remember how the restoration of order at the end of _Skyfall_ had the (late) female M succeeded by the new guy, with a distinct subtext of “hooray lads, back to normal at last”? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the new movie went basically the same route. Tough black female 007 character to look like the franchise is broadening its horizons, shitshow ensues, Bond saves the new girl’s bacon but not her life, movie ends on note of triumphant reassurance about familiar white guy being back in the driver’s seat. Appeals to both pro-diversity viewers (the first part) and the franchise traditionalists (the last bit). ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/75 "2019-07-15T06:40:34Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Probably true. Remember how the restoration of order at the end of _Skyfall_ had the (late) female M succeeded by the new guy, with a distinct subtext of “hooray lads, back to normal at last”? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the new movie went basically the same route. > > Tough black female 007 character to look like the franchise is broadening its horizons, shitshow ensues, Bond saves the new girl’s bacon but not her life, movie ends on note of triumphant reassurance about familiar white guy being back in the driver’s seat. Appeals to both pro-diversity viewers (the first part) and the franchise traditionalists (the last bit). I disagree completely with that assessment of M, and we can bet on the end of the next Bond film if you’d like ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/76 "2019-07-15T08:22:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Now I’m imagining John “I’m a PC” Hodgman as Bond. Given that Bond is British, I rather think you mean [David Mitchell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9s6Lfzdtfo). And I would gladly pay double the admission price to see Mitchell as 007. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/77 "2019-07-15T08:28:41Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Neither are from the UK. Neither were Lazenby nor Brosnan. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/78 "2019-07-15T08:50:04Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Quote: > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > View Post > > I could care less who plays 007. If that’s just a generic title for a job. > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > View Post > > I completely understand the situation. A different person is 007. > > LOL. Well he does say he **could** care less, so he obviously cares very much. No contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/79 "2019-07-15T08:57:02Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Given that Bond is British, I rather think you mean [David Mitchell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9s6Lfzdtfo). And I would gladly pay double the admission price to see Mitchell as 007. 🙂 _“Um- hey- hey! If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like… um… uh… a martini vodka. And I need it to be shaken, but- You, hey, are you listening? I lost him. I lost another waiter. Oh, boy, this is going to be one of those nights, I can feel it. Great, and now I’m having acid reflux. Ugh. Hey. Hey! Excuse me! Excuse me! I need an Omeprazole! Hello? Nobody’s listening. Ooooh. I’m going home. I’m sure 006 can take care of that Blofeld fella.”_ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078/80 "2019-07-15T09:04:20Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Given that Bond is British, I rather think you mean [David Mitchell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9s6Lfzdtfo). And I would gladly pay double the admission price to see Mitchell as 007. 🙂 He’s more of a [Bond villain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDedpreZH-0) than a Bond… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/007-will-be-played-by-a-black-actress/837078.md?page=5)