The director of the upcoming James Bond film No Time To Die has called Sean Connery’s iteration of the character “basically” a rapist.
Cary Fukunaga, who has directed episodes of TV shows like True Detective and Maniac, spoke to Variety about the questionable behaviour of Bond in previous films.
“Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where, like, basically Sean Connery’s character rapes a woman?” Fukunaga said.
“She’s like ‘No, no, no,’ and he’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That wouldn’t fly today.”
Fukunaga continued on to discuss No Time To Die featuring the second-ever female writer to work on the franchise, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
“I think that’s the expectation, a female writing very strong female roles, but that’s something Barbara [Broccoli, the film’s producer] wanted already,” he said.
“From my very first conversations with [Broccoli], that was a very strong drive. You can’t change Bond overnight into a different person. But you can definitely change the world around him and the way he has to function in that world. It’s a story about a white man as a spy in this world, but you have to be willing to lean in and do the work to make the female characters more than just contrivances.”
Along with being the first Bond film to be released in a post #MeToo era, No Time To Die also marks Daniel Craig’s last time playing the iconic role.
Although his replacement has not yet been confirmed, Craig told Radio Times that he believes a woman shouldn’t play James Bond.
“There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour,” he said.
“Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
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Check out director Cary Fukunaga discussing No Time To Die:
