Barbara Broccoli, the woman spearheading the James Bond film franchise, says the lead character “can be of any color,” but will never be female.
Broccoli, who has produced the movie series since the mid-90s shared in a wide-spanning interview with Variety on Jan. 15 that 007 continue to be a man.
But that doesn’t mean Broccoli isn’t speaking up on behalf of women.
“He can be of any color, but he is male,” Broccoli revealed to Variety. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
The announcement has surfaced amid speculation as to who will be replacing Daniel Craig who has played the spy since 2006’s Casino Royale.
Craig has confirmed he will in fact be stepping down from the upcoming film, “No Time To Die.”