Potential future James Bond Paapa Essiedu recently shared his opinion about a diversified 007. Daniel Craig finished his stint as the iconic spy with 2021’s No Time to Die, and speculations on who will take up the mantle as the next James Bond are rampant everywhere.
The Gangs of London and Black Mirror star is currently among the top contenders for the coveted role alongside veterans like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, James Norton, and Regé-Jean Page.
Essiedu recently spoke to The Times about his involvement with the James Bond franchise and was asked whether his casting will ensure a positive step towards ensuring diversity in the franchise.
In response, the star argued that far more things need to be done to ensure diversity than just casting a man of color as James Bond. Read his complete response below:
Do you want to base it on whether James Bond is going to be black . . . or South Asian or East Asian? Does that mean that diversity is going the right way if the profits end in the pockets of the same people? It’s too multilayered a test study, so it’s not a question I can answer or really want to answer.
Despite running for such a long time, the James Bond franchise has struggled to keep up with the growing sensibilities of modern times. Besides being immensely sexist, Bond movies have had their fair share of problematic depictions of race and diversity.
However, efforts are being made to curb this problem. For instance, it was announced that James Bond writer Ian Fleming’s novels would be re-edited to remove racist content from the franchise.
Even with all these efforts in place, public reaction to the inclusion of men of color in franchises with a predominantly white cast has been rather off-putting. Just recently, Idris Elba turned down the coveted offer to play James Bond after being slammed by fans online as they found the prospect ‘disgusting.’
However, if the Bond franchise is to survive, it must adapt to the changing world and its belief system.
Here, Essiedu’s words carry great value as preserving inclusivity is not only restricted to simply casting a man of color as James Bond. The change needs to percolate deeper than that. Only then will the foundations of racism be shaken and slowly removed from the franchise.
About James Bond Franchise
James Bond films are the longest continually running film series of all time and have grossed over US$7.04 billion in total, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2021, there have been twenty-five films in the Eon Productions series. The most recent Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), stars Daniel Craig in his fifth portrayal of Bond; he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series.
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