It’s time for Jane Bond: I spy seven potential 007 actors perfect for the role

This article titled “It’s time for Jane Bond: I spy 007 actors perfect for the role” was written by Ben Child, for theguardian.com on Tuesday 31st May 2016 18.35 UTC

If you think the chances of the next James Bond being female are up there with the disappointingly long odds on Captain America starting to date men, here’s a polite history lesson. If it hadn’t been for 2002’s Die Another Day firing blanks with the critics, a suave female super spy operating in the same film universe as 007 might already have sipped down her first minimally mixed martini.

Studio MGM once planned to give Halle Berry’s Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson her own spin-off following the NSA agent’s appearance alongside Pierce Brosnan in Lee Tamahori’s disastrous turn at the Bond helm. Naturally, the idea was swiftly dropped down an industrial chimney after the 20th 007 adventure, with its invisible CGI cars and dumb ice palace lairs, was ruthlessly torn to pieces by the merciless sharks otherwise known as the world’s critics.

Prior to Berry, production company Eon even considered giving Tomorrow Never Dies’ Michelle Yeoh her own movie as Chinese spy Wai Lin. So why shouldn’t Gillian Anderson, and now Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, tout themselves for the role of “Jane Bond”? Here are seven actors who would make a heavenly female 007.

Rosamund Pike

Hang on a minute, Pike played turncoat MI6 agent Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, I hear you cry. But plenty of 007 stalwarts, from Charles Gray to Maud Adams, have appeared in different roles in more than one Bond movie. Pike has the steely countenance, cut-glass Brit accent and spiky sex appeal (as seen in the excellent Gone Girl) to play the suave British agent, and at the age of 37 has the perfect blend of youthfulness and maturity. She’s even played Pussy Galore for a BBC radio production of Goldfinger, and has narrated audio versions of several Bond books. Now at the peak of her career following an Oscar nod for Gone Girl, the role of the new 007 would surely be Pike’s already had she only been born a fella.

Jane Bond rating: 009

Emilia Clarke

She may be of diminutive stature, but assorted swarthy slavemasters, frazzled Dothraki and treacherous maegi could tell you that the 29-year-old star of Game of Thrones is to be messed with at your peril. Still, Clarke barely registered as the new Sarah Connor in sci-fi sequel Terminator: Genisys (a fault, perhaps of the film-makers rather than the actor) last year, and is clearly yet to prove herself on the big screen. She wants it, though.

Jane Bond rating: 006

Gillian Anderson

Anderson is officially bidialectal, meaning that she can pull off perfect English and American accents (a legacy of her mixed roots), which ought surely to make her a shoo-in for MI6 recruitment. Best known for the X-Files movies and television series, the Chicago-born actor was excellent in a supporting role as a hard-nosed Brit agent in the 2012 James Marsh Troubles drama Shadow Dancer, led by one-time Bond candidate Clive Owen. She’s quite capable of pulling off the cruel-eyed menace combined with dazzling charisma that undercuts the very best Bonds, and keen on the role.

Jane Bond rating: 008

Olivia Colman

Her turn as a no-nonsense working-class spook in the BBC’s The Night Manager might suggest Colman belongs in the gloomier John le Carré carriage of the spy drama express train, rather than Ian Fleming’s more glamorous luxury cabin suite. But the Norwich-born actor also has a powerful background in comedy thanks to long-running stints in cult British TV sitcoms such as Peep Show, and could help return the long-running spy saga to light-hearted territory. Might she make an even better Q?

Jane Bond rating: 007

Kate Winslet

Now we’re talking. If Winslet can be persuaded to slum it as a dystopian baddie in the Divergent movies, she could hardly turn down the chance to play the first-ever female Bond. The 40-year-old star of Titanic and Steve Jobs has a suitably chameleonic range, as typified by her Oscar-winning turn as a former Nazi prison guard in The Reader, and has topped recent UK polls of actors the public would like to see play 007. She’s never led an action franchise, but what a signing it would be.

Jane Bond rating: 009

Felicity Jones

About to prove her all-action chops as female Han Solo type Jynn Erso in the new Star Wars (don’t call it a) prequel Rogue One, though there are worrying reports that Gareth Edwards’ movie has run into trouble six months ahead of its December release. Still, Jones picked up an Oscar nod for best actress following her beautifully understated turn as Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane in The Theory of Everything, so she ought to have few problems throwing bad guys and enemy agents off train carriages.

Jane Bond rating: 006

Emily Blunt

If the perfect candidate ought to combine posh sex appeal and the ability to beat grown men to a pulp, Blunt is the Aston Martin DB5 of Jane Bond hopefuls. More than capable of handling action, comedy and serious drama with all the verve and panache one might expect from Her Majesty’s top agent, the chance to replace Daniel Craig would surely represent just the latest challenge for an actor who has taken Hollywood by storm in recent years. When compared to Blunt’s bad-ass turn as Rita Vrataski, in sci-fi action spectacular Edge of Tomorrow, Hollywood’s top action star, Tom Cruise, exhibited all the screen menace of Nick Nack from The Man With the Golden Gun. And all this from the woman who once played Miss Piggy’s PA.

Jane Bond rating: 009

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