Ana de Armas Pushes Back On Altering Iconic Characters For Diversity’s Sake: "Let James Be James"
No one wants a female James Bond – not even Ana de Armas.
We’re not in 2018 anymore (thank goodness). The novelty of flipping iconic male roles into "feminist wins" is tired, overdone, and, frankly, lazy. While Hollywood keeps fumbling around trying to repackage the same characters with a new face and gender, Ana de Armas is politely saying no, thanks.
The No Time to Die actress has made her stance clear more than once – that James Bond doesn’t need to be a woman, and neither does John Wick. During a stop at CinemaCon to promote her upcoming John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, she spoke with Variety and asked the question most studios should be asking themselves: "Why don’t we have more movies about Paloma?"
De Armas added, "Let James be James, and John Wick be John Wick. We’ll do our thing. When you get a woman fighting, you’ll be surprised the things she can pull off."
De Armas also told The Sun in 2022, “There’s no need for a female Bond. There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character… What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films are brought to life in a different way. That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things.”
De Armas also spoke to Variety about the future of Bond under Amazon MGM Studios. Some fans are worried that with new creative leads, we’re heading into unfamiliar territory. But de Armas seemed optimistic: "I’m sure that Barbara Broccoli and Robert Wilson made the best decision for James Bond. Whatever happens, that can go anywhere [creatively]."
Gemma Arterton, another former Bond girl, agrees. “Isn’t a female James Bond like Mary Poppins being played by a man?” she remarked. “They talk about it, but I think people would find it too outrageous. Sometimes you just have to respect the tradition."
As Ana de Armas said, "Bond will continue to be a man, and that’s fine. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters."
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