Sean Connery’s James Bond was basically a rapist, says No Time To Die director
#NoTimetoDie helmer Cary Fukunaga on the last-minute decision to move the film, being the first American to steer the franchise and ushering #007 into a post-MeToo era: "You can’t change Bond overnight, but you can change the world around him" https://t.co/cgsoXLPlwm pic.twitter.com/n7yXadvbFa
- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 22, 2021
Cary said the secret agent’s behaviour towards women “wouldn’t fly today” in a post-MeToo era.
In a new interview with THR, the director behind the latest 007 admitted he “can’t change Bond overnight into a different person” but he could “definitely change the world around him”.
“Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where, like, basically Sean Connery’s character rapes a woman?” Fukunaga asks. “She’s like ‘No, no, no,’ and he’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That wouldn’t fly today.”
At Fukunaga’s suggestion, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to work on the film.
“I think that’s the expectation, a female writing very strong female roles, but that’s something Barbara wanted already,” he insists. “From my very first conversations with [Broccoli], that was a very strong drive. You can’t change Bond overnight into a different person. But you can definitely change the world around him and the way he has to function in that world. It’s a story about a white man as a spy in this world, but you have to be willing to lean in and do the work to make the female characters more than just contrivances.”
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