Rosamund Pike Thinks James Bond Shouldn’t Be Female: ‘Why Should a Woman Get Sloppy Seconds?’

Daniel Craig is gearing up to play James Bond for one last time, and it’s anyone’s guess right now as to who picks up the role next following the release of Bond 25 in November 2019. While there’s been some push online for a female 007, “Gone Girl” favorite Rosamund Pike says a James Bond film led by an actress isn’t needed. The “Beirut” star argues against a female James Bond in an interview with Uproxx (via The Playlist).

“I’d just say write a new story,” Pike says. “James Bond is a character that Ian Fleming created. Of f course the brand has become bigger and whatever, but take one of the Bond Girls and give her her own story. I think the character of James Bond is a man. He is really.

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“To have such a character in a completely independent series, why should a woman get sort of sloppy seconds?” Pike asks. “Why should she have once been a man and now it has to be played by a woman? Why not make a kick-ass female agent in her own right?”

Pike explains that to just swap the gender of the 007 character would be to “underestimate a woman entirely.” The actress has no interest in playing or seeing a lady Bond on screen, but she’d have no problem taking on the role of an original female action hero.

“There’s nothing really about the James Bond character as written by Ian Fleming that resembles a woman,” Pike says. “It’s a very masculine creation. So sure, make an unexpected, unapologetic, kick-ass, amazing female agent and yes, I’ll play her.”

Pike’s comments are similar to thoughts expressed by Rachel Weisz earlier this year. Speaking to The Telegraph, Weisz said that women deserve “their own stories” on the big screen and not just a gender-swapped 007 character. “Why not create your own story rather than jumping on to the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors?” she asked.

Craig’s final outing as 007 in Bond 25 opens in theaters November 8, 2019. Pike can been opposite Jon Hamm in “Beirut,” now playing.