Former Bond girl Jane Seymour has given a withering response to the endless speculation over whether the next will be a woman, saying she’s ‘fed up’ with the discussion.
The 71-year-old Hollywood actress starred in 1973’s Live and Let Die opposite Roger Moore as Solitaire, a 22-year-old woman whose virginity gave her superpowers, all until she lost them ‘once Bond has had her’.
While she admitted that the film would never be made today because of that dated, sexist trope, she’d be up for reprising her role in a future instalment.
‘It occurred to me today, because I’m so fed up of hearing “Should a woman be Bond?”, that I would be very happy to be in a Bond film, and I know exactly what I would play,’ the veteran screen star told the .
‘We don’t know what happened to Solitaire, do we? When she lost her virginity, is it possible she got pregnant? Is it possible she went on to be a grandma? And is it possible that her grandchild has her abilities?’
She added that Bond has evolved and become more progressive since then, saying: ‘Bond gets better and better, and it’s more in tune with today’s feelings and thoughts and issues.
‘It was far more comedic when I did it – it’s become much more of an adventure.’
Rumours that Bond could be played by a woman have been circulating since Craig revealed he would be relinquishing the iconic role.
When asked about a potential diverse casting, the actor recently , and instead that there should be ‘better’ roles available for women and people of colour.
‘Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?’ he told .
The franchise’s producer Barbara Broccoli recently echoed Craig’s sentiments, saying that , and that she’d rather create new characters for women to portray, rather than have a woman play a role originally written as a man.
Craig stood down as Bond after his fifth and final film, No Time to Die, after making his debut in Casino Royale.
Meanwhile, Jane recently addressed reports claiming
Appearing on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch, she explained: ‘I said, yes [I’ve had surgery] when I was 40. I had my breasts improved and I felt that they needed a bit of help.
‘I used to have a bulge under my eyes, well I still do, so [I had that done]… I’ve never said I haven’t had anything done. I think I was probably asked, “have you done a facelift?” and I said, “no I haven’t”. That doesn’t mean I don’t think anyone else shouldn’t.’
Jane branded herself ‘an artist’ and ‘a sculptress,’ and compared altering her appearance to working with clay and creating art.
‘I know that if you fix this then you have to fix that and then you have to fix that… If you ever work in clay, it looks great one angle then you look the other side and you go, “Oh wait a minute, what happened to that face?”
‘So I decided I’m just going to do all the comedy I can, play the crazy 85-year-olds and have great series like Harry [Wild]… and why not? I’m aiming to age as gracefully as I can.’
