Phoebe Waller-Bridge is not in favour of a female James Bond and calls for rival character to 007

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has said she would not be in favour of a female Bond, suggesting the famous spy needs a rival instead.

The actress spoke about the future of the James Bond franchise from the red carpet at the world premiere of the long-awaited No Time To Die film, which will mark Daniel Craig’s last stint as 007.

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What did Waller-Bridge say?

The acclaimed creator of Fleabag was drafted in to work on the No Time To Die script and worked closely with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and director Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Explaining her role in No Time To Die, she said: “They asked me to come on board to add to the plot they were already working on.

“There was already a script, they had some things they wanted to go in a different direction with, they wanted the character work to be even deeper and look into more nuance in the characters.

“It was really an overall look at the whole script with them, to be able to work with Cary, who was also writing on it while he was in deeper prep with other things.

“It was to support them as much as come up with new stuff and throw it at them and see if they liked it. That was a wonderful experience because it was a collaboration but it wasn’t fully my vision.

“So I could say, ‘does this work for you? Does this work for you?’ And I’m really, really excited to see that some of it did work for them and it’s on the screen.”

The release of No Time To Die brings the Daniel Craig Bond era to an end after five film releases, with attention now turning to who will be next to step into the famous role.

Rumours have surfaced that a female could potentially be next to portray the iconic spy, but Waller-Bridge has said she thinks the character should remain as a male lead, saying “Bond is Bond”.

Speaking at the Royal Albert Hall film premiere, she said: “I think Bond is James Bond. We just need to cook up someone to rival him.”

When asked if she could be the one to create such a character, she laughed and said: “I have to be careful what I say.”

Background 

No Time To Die is the latest installment of the 007 series and will open in UK cinemas on 30 September.

The film stars Daniel Craig as the title character, in what Craig has said will be his final Bond film.

The much-anticipated release follows a five-time postponement due to issues with production and Covid.

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