Morena Baccarin Wants To Be The First Female James Bond

Screen Rant

By Matt Morrison

Published May 10, 2018

Deadpool 2 star Morena Baccarin says she would be up for being the first female James Bond in an official 007 film if the producers go that route.

With her exotic good looks and cool screen presence, many have suggested that actress Morena Baccarin could be the next big Bond Girl. Baccarin has different ideas, however. She wants to be James Bond!

Baccarin is no stranger to action movies or franchises. First finding fame in the role of Inara on Firefly, she would later reprise the role for the movie Serenity. Since that time she has appeared in numerous science fiction and superhero themed television shows and films. She is probably most famous for playing the role of Dr. Leslie Tompkins on Gotham and for playing Wade Wilson's love interest, Vanessa, in Deadpool - a role she'll be playing again in the upcoming Deadpool 2.

Baccarin's comments came in the midst of an interview with Cinepop. Reportedly, the actress is tired of playing passive roles and love interests and wants to be an action hero herself.

"I think it's going to be me," she said regarding the role of James Bond. "Of course, I have to be the next one. I have training."

Ursula Andress as James Bond in 1967 Casion Royale

It is worth noting that even if Baccarin's dream comes true, she would not technically be the first female James Bond. That honor is shared by Ursula Andress, Barbara Bouchet, Joanna Pettet and Daliah Lavi - all of whom played female spies who used "James Bond" as a code name in the 1967 film Casino Royale. It would be fair to say, however, that Baccarin would be the first female James Bond in a canon James Bond production. The first Casino Royale film was reimagined as a spy genre spoof after producer Charles K. Feldman (who acquired ownership of the film rights to the first James Bond novel) failed to negotiate a deal with Eon Productions, who have produced every officially licensed James Bond film to date. As such, it is not officially considered part of the canon, despite having been endorsed by the Ian Fleming estate and starring David Niven, who was Fleming's first choice to play James Bond in a movie.

Semantics aside, it'll be interesting to see what happens on this front. Earlier this year, franchise producer Barbara Broccoli indicated she was open to having the next 007 be a women or person of color, so this is definitely a possibility the studio is considering. That being said, a number of high-profile actresses (including Rosamund Pike and Rachel Weisz) have voiced against Bond swapping genders, stating they'd prefer for women to get their own stories (like Atomic Blonde, for instance). The success of last year's Wonder Woman showed there was an audience for female-driven action films, so this could be just the thing to shake up the long-running Bond series. The onus will be on Eon Productions, who'd have to risk rocking the boat by changing the status quo in this regard.