Jenna Ortega Says Women Deserve Their Own Franchises: "I Don’t Want To See Jamie Bond"

We've already seen the failed attempts with gender-swapped movies like the Ghostbusters reboot, the disappointing Ocean's 8 spinoff, and The Hustle, a 2019 remake of the film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Hollywood just keeps giving us remake after remake, so it's refreshing to hear a celebrity finally acknowledge that women deserve their own original movies. Perhaps in time, more actors will openly agree that it’s time to move beyond the gender spin-offs.

Jenna Ortega gives us hope. In a recent interview with MTV, the Beetlejuice sequel star was asked about the possibility of starring as Edith Scissorhands in a female-lead remake of Edward Scissorhands directed by Tim Burton. Ortega was quick to say she'd rather star as a completely original character in a new franchise. “I love that there’s a lot more female leads nowadays, I think that’s so special. But we should have our own,” Ortega said. “I don’t like it when it’s like a spinoff – I don’t want to see like ‘Jamie Bond.’ You know? I want to see another badass.”

We will never see a Jamie Bond – at least not anytime soon. Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond franchise, has long been a key figure in shaping the iconic spy series. She foreshadowed Ortega in a 2021 The Hollywood Reporter interview when she addressed the debate over whether the next James Bond should be a woman. “I think [the next James Bond] will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond,” Broccoli stated. “I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles. I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women.”

According to a Variety article, No Time to Die star Ana De Armas agrees. She once told The Sun that Bond should remain a man. “There’s no need for a female Bond,” the Cuban and Spanish actress said. “There shouldn’t be any need to steal someone else’s character, you know, to take over. This is a novel, and it leads into this James Bond world and this fantasy of that universe where he’s at.”

“What I would like is that the female roles in the Bond films, even though Bond will continue to be a man, are brought to life in a different way,” she added. “That they’re given a more substantial part and recognition. That’s what I think is more interesting than flipping things.”

Why is it that Hollywood can’t create even more movies with leading female characters? Look at the success of Tomb Raider, Charlie's Angels, The Hunger Games, and Barbie. Let’s hope Hollywood finally gets the memo and shifts toward original women-led stories.

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