The director of the upcoming James Bond flick, “No Time To Die,” claimed that the beloved version of 007 portrayed by Sean Connery was “basically” a rapist in a new interview.
Director Cary Fukunaga explained that the sex scenes that occurred during Connery’s six film run as Bond would not be acceptable in a post #MeToo era.
“Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where, like, basically Sean Connery’s character rapes a woman?” Fukunaga questioned. “She’s like ‘No, no, no,’ and he’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That wouldn’t fly today.”
The director was referring to a scene in 1965’s “Thunderball” where the British spy kisses a nurse despite her objections, and later blackmails her into having sex with him by promising he would only stay quiet about information that threatened her job for “a price.”
“You don’t mean … oh, no,” the nurse cries, and Bond replies “Oh, yes,” before pushing her into a sauna and removing her clothes.
One of the ways Fukunaga is trying to make Bond more woke is by bringing on Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to flush out the film’s female characters.
“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,” he remarked. “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.”
Longtime Bond producer Barbara Broccoli believes 007’s update was a necessity. “I think people are coming around — with some kicking and screaming — to accepting that stuff is no longer acceptable. Thank goodness,” she commented.
“Bond is a character who was written in 1952 and the first film [Dr. No] came out in 1962. He’s got a long history, and the history of the past is very different to the way he is being portrayed now.”
The director prefers Craig’s “brutal and brooding” Bond to Connery’s “one-eyebrow-up version.”
“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,” he continued.
“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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