CNN — Acclaimed British actress Helen Mirren has criticised the James Bond franchise for the way in which it portrays women, saying “the whole concept” of the movies is “drenched and born out of profound sexism.”
Mirren, who is starring in the new Paramount+ crime thriller series “MobLand” alongside former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, told The Standard that “the whole series of James Bond, it’s not my thing.”
“I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond,” she said, adding that she doesn’t want to see a woman portray the fictional spy.
“I would tell real stories about extraordinary women who’ve worked in that world,” she continued, offering the example of the “amazingly, unbelievably courageous” women who were part of the French Resistance.
For years, the franchise has faced criticism for its portrayal of women, relegating them in early movies to “Bond girls,” celebrated only for their sex appeal.
More recently, and especially since the #MeToo movement, Bond has attempted to depict women in a different light.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who created “Fleabag” and “Killing Eve,” was brought in to work on the script of the 2021 movie “No Time to Die” …
