As rumors continue to swirl over the future of the James Bond franchise, actor Dominic West has a groundbreaking proposal for who should be next to bring 007 to life on the big screen.
Speaking to The Sunday Times in a profile published on Dec. 23, the “Colette” star suggested the role of Bond could be played by a transgender performer.
“Maybe a transgender Bond would be cool,” West said in the interview, excerpts of which appeared on Entertainment Tonight Canada and Indie Wire. “Yes, there’s a very cool woman who’s the wife of an actor in ‘Colette,’ who is a captain in the electrical engineers, the highest-ranking transgender soldier in the army.”
He continued, “She’s a beautiful blonde girl who could be Bond, yes. That’s actually a brilliant idea. They should have a transgender Bond because there are a lot of transgender people in the army. They’d be ideal because they can do everything. That’s a great idea! A transgender Bond.”
The 49-year-old West was referring to Hannah Winterbourne, who is married to “Colette” actor Jake Graf. Both Winterbourne and Graf identify as transgender.
Though thankful for the endorsement, Winterbourne shrugged off the idea on Twitter and suggested her husband for the role instead.
It’s unclear, however, just how serious West was about the suggestion. Elsewhere in the interview, he appeared skeptical that Bond would ever be played by anyone other than a cisgender man.
“I think some of these things are gender specific,” he said, when asked about the possibility of a female 007.
Bond has, of course, been played memorably by Daniel Craig since 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The actor has hinted that his fifth appearance as Bond in an as-yet-untitled film, which is aiming for a 2020 release, will be his last.
If Craig is out, no replacement has been announced. Fans, however, have floated the idea of Idris Elba, Tom Hardy and Henry Golding for the role.
