Pierce Brosnan was the 5th actor to play James Bond, 007, on the big screen. Like many leading men in action films, Bond has always been played as heterosexual by Caucasian men. In fact, Bond’s appetite for sexual encounters and womanizing nature has always been one of his most famous traits.
As such, Bond has come up quite often in discussions as a character ripe for non-heteronormative incarnations in this day and age. So what does Pierce Brosnan himself have to say about whether or not we might get a homosexual version of the legendary MI6 agent?
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Brosnan had this to say when Details asked him “Can you picture a gay 007?”
“Sure. Why not? [Pauses thoughtfully] Actually, I don’t know how it would work. I don’t think Barbara [Broccoli, the James Bond producer] would allow a gay Bond to happen in her lifetime. But it would certainly make for interesting viewing. Let’s start with a great black actor being James Bond. Idris Elba certainly has the physicality, the charisma, the presence. But I think Daniel [Craig] will be there for a while yet.”
Certainly encouraging. Though also discouraging that Barbara Broccoli, the actual producer, might not be open to the idea.
If there’s any action franchise mired in conventional ideas of gender identity and politics it would be James Bond. And I agree with Brosnan. Seeing how a Bond film would work with a gay protagonist and even a gay romances/encounters would be very interesting. Idris Elba as James Bond would be pretty awesome too please.
In the meantime, we still have Spectre to look forward to on November 6th, including how it handles Bond with Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci.
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