Helen Mirren does not want a woman to play James Bond: ‘Born out of profound sexism’
Joe Maher/Getty Images for Paramount Plus
Helen Mirren does not want to see a woman step into James Bond’s shoes.
In a recent interview with The Standard, Mirren said she has never really liked the spy series because of how it has presented women. The idea of a woman taking over the iconic role has been talked about in Hollywood over the last couple of years, but Mirren isn’t a fan of the idea.
“The whole series of James Bond, it was not my thing. It really wasn’t. I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond,” Mirren said. “The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism.”
Instead of gender-bending James Bond, Mirren is in favor of telling new stories about women who are spies.
“Women have always been a major and incredibly important part of the Secret Service. They always have been. And very brave. If you hear about what women did in the French Resistance, they’re amazingly, unbelievably courageous,” Mirren said. “So I would tell real stories about extraordinary women who’ve worked in that world.”
Mirren is starring alongside a former James Bond in the new Paramount+ series MobLand: Pierce Brosnan plays her husband in the show.
“I’m a huge fan of Pierce Brosnan, I mean massive fan,” Mirren said. “Obviously, he’s gorgeous and everything. And I think he’s fabulous in MobLand, but he also happens to be one of the nicest people you’ll ever have the pleasure to work with. And indeed Daniel Craig, who I’ve met and know a little bit. Again, a very lovely gracious person.”
The actress has been tapped to write and star in a Barney live-action film for the studio. It will be codeveloped by A24 and DanielKaluuya‘s company, 59% Productions, in partnership with Mattel Films, which is the IP owner of Barney.
A24 confirmed the news Tuesday in a post on Instagram. The studio shared a graphic created by Variety announcing the news.
“We’re a happy family,” A24 captioned its post, in which it also tagged Edebiri and Kaluuya, and posted in collaboration with Barney the Dinosaur and Mattel.
While Kaluuya is a lead producer on the project, he will not act alongside Edebiri in the film, Variety reports. Plot details are unknown, but back when the project was first announced in November 2019, Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner said working with Kaluuya would let their studio “take a completely new approach to Barney that will surprise audiences and subvert expectations.”
Rowan Riley will produce alongside Kaluuya for 59% Productions, while Kevin McKeon and Andrew Scannell will produce for Mattel Films. Brenner will oversee as producer for Mattel Films with A24.
The film will be based on the purple dinosaur character from the beloved children’s TV series Barney & Friends, which premiered in 1992 and aired for 14 seasons.
Adam Scott is reminiscing about his time in Pawnee.
In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote season 2 of Severance, Scott spoke about his time acting as Ben Wyatt, the love interest to Amy Poehler‘s Leslie Knope, on the sitcom Parks and Recreation.
“I haven’t seen the show in a long time,” Scott said after the podcast’s host played him a clip from it. “Honestly because it makes me sad to see the show, because I miss them and I miss all the actors even though we’re constantly in touch and stuff, but I miss the time of making it.”
The actor continued, saying although the cast members on the show — including Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt and Rob Lowe — keep in touch through a text group chat, he’s nostalgic for the years he spent working beside them.
“It was a really just joyful five years — for me, seven years for the show — getting to go work there every day with that group of people. We had so much fun and [were] making something that meant something to people; it meant something to us,” Scott said.
The gang reunited for a virtual Zoom reunion during the pandemic, but Scott said an official reunion would be up to the show’s creators, Michael Schur and Greg Daniels.
“The show itself, the series finale kind of took us to the end. It jumped pretty far ahead into the future, so I’m not sure what else there is to add, but it’s entirely not up to me at all,” Scott said.
Blake Lively filed an amended version of her lawsuit against her It Ends with Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni on Feb. 18.
The actress’s lawyers said in a statement that the new version “provides significant additional evidence and corroboration of her original claims” and “includes previously undisclosed communications” as well as “numerous other witnesses.”
The amended complaint alleges that Lively was not the only woman to voice concern over sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us.
Lively’s complaint notes that in May 2023 “another female cast member reported her own concerns regarding Mr. Baldoni’s unwelcome behavior” and that the cast member came forward despite “considerable reservations” because she felt “the work on the Film was suffering as a result of Mr. Baldoni’s behavior.” She claims Baldoni then “responded to that cast member in writing, acknowledging that he was aware of her concerns and that adjustments would be made” but that conditions didn’t approve.
“Later, another female cast member confided to Ms. Lively that she too felt uncomfortable on set,” the amended complaint reads. “All of this occurred, and was documented in writing, almost one year before the editing of the Film began.”
Lively’s amended complaint alleges that Baldoni’s “false narrative crumbles under the indisputable truth that Ms. Lively was not alone in complaining about Mr. Baldoni and raised her concerns contemporaneously as they arose in 2023, not in connection with some imagined power play for control of the Film in 2024.” Additionally, it alleges Baldoni “acknowledged the complaints in writing at the time” and “knew that women other than Ms. Lively also were uncomfortable and had complained about his behavior.”
Lively argues in her amended complaint that Baldoni’s public persona of having “portrayed himself as a leader of the male feminist movement” is a “stark contrast” to his private behavior, which she alleges “is replete with hypocrisy, misogyny, and retaliation.”
The actress’s attorneys said in a statement of the amended complaint, “Over the next several weeks, we will move to dismiss the utterly meritless lawsuits brought against Ms. Lively and Mr. [Ryan] Reynolds, and we will move full speed ahead with discovery that we expect will reveal shocking details about the depth to which the Defendants have sunk in their unending efforts to ‘bury,’ ‘ruin,’ and ‘destroy’ Ms. Lively and her family.”
The amended complaint has also added a new claim for defamation, which, according to Lively’s attorneys, is “based on the repeated false statements the defendants have made about Ms. Lively since she filed her original complaint.”
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, issued a statement in response to Lively’s amended complaint, claiming in part that it “is filled with unsubstantial hearsay of unnamed persons who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims.”
“Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported Ms. Lively’s false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening,” he continued. “What is truly remarkable here is Ms. Lively’s lack of actual evidence.”
