The James Bond franchise is one of the most iconic and long running film properties in history. Generations of moviegoers have followed 007's adventures, and the whopping 25th movie is nearly upon us. Cary Joji Fukunaga's No Time to Die will mark Daniel Craig's final performance as Bond, and will also include Knives Out actress Ana de Armas as CIA agent Paloma. But it turns out she was originally unsure about taking the role.
Despite the James Bond franchise's years in theaters and box office draws, the franchise hasn't had a great track record when it comes to female characters. Sean Connery's Bond was smacking women's asses, and Bond Girls are sometimes reduced one note characters in sexy dresses. This is exactly what gave Ana de Armas pause when joining No Time to Die, as she put it:
Obviously I was jumping all over the place and very excited. But I needed to be sure it wouldn’t jeopardize all the work I’d been putting in, that it wouldn’t ruin everything. And the Bond women have always been, for me at least, unrelatable.
Ana de Armas is methodical in how she picks her acting projects, making sure that her roles are multifaceted and not simply caricature of Latinas or women in general. So No Time to Die had to give Paloma some depth in order to make her more relatable. Luckily, that's exactly what happened.
We don't know much about the contents of No Time to Die, and in particular Paloma's role in the upcoming blockbuster. She was revealed to be a relatively new CIA agent, who collaborates with Bond on a mission in Cuba. But we do know that Paloma was crafted around the talents of Ana de Armas, with that collaboration likely convincing the 31 year-old actress to officially sign on.
Later in her conversation with Vanity Fair, Ana de Armas praised No Time to Die's script and handling of her character. She credits Fleabag and Killing Eve's Phoebe Waller-Bridge for helping to work on the script and bring her signature POV to the Bond franchise.
You could also tell that Phoebe was in there. There was that humor and spikiness so specific to her. My character feels like a real woman. But you know, we can evolve and grow and incorporate reality, but Bond is a fantasy. In the end you can’t take things out of where they live.
Is anyone else super excite or No Time to Die to hit theaters? Because while the 25th Bond movie will adjust to the modern age and more properly service its female characters, it's still remaining true to the franchise. So we should still expect plenty of action, martinis, and quips in the highly anticipated blockbuster. Plus, a few new characters to help flesh out the world.
No Time to Die will hit theaters on April 10th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
