Words: Gentleman's Journal
Daniel Craig is back. Reports circulating around the entertainment-sphere like wildfire confirm that, after months of cajoling – and, we imagine, more than one or two martinis – the producers of the James Bond franchise have persuaded the actor to make one more movie.
But, with the superspy’s role firmly filled, who will he be playing against? The role of a Bond girl has graduated from simple eye candy in recent years, with characters elevating to action equals of Bond’s, considerably more than one night stands and even villains. Here’s our pick of the best actresses to take on the mantle.
Gadot is, without doubt, our top choice. She cut her cinematic teeth in the Fast and the Furious films, showing that she could more than hold her own next to Craig’s Bond – behind the wheel or in a fist fight.
Of course, it doesn’t help that she’s glamorous beyond compare and – with her recent casting as Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, there’s hardly a franchise left that she hasn’t touched.
The firm bookies favourite, breakout star Margot Robbie is still the name on the lips of casting directors across the world. With recent roles including Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad – where she proved nifty with weapons – and Focus – in which she showed that she could slip effortlessly into the type of slick, modern thriller Bond has become, she wouldn’t be too bad either.
Our only reservation here is age. Robbie is 25, which makes her almost exactly half the age of Daniel Craig. She may be glamorous, and wise beyond her years – and could certainly carry the part – but isn’t there a point where the age difference gets a little creepy?
A close second to Gadot, Diane Kruger would be a solid choice given that she is within ten years of Daniel Craig’s age, a fantastic actress, and extremely easy on the eyes. Following in the footsteps of Monica Bellucci, Eva Green and Lea Seydoux, this would also continue rebooted Bond’s tradition of casting a European as the female lead.
She was famously beautiful for Troy, and showed her adventure thriller chops in the National Treasure films – not the best pre-Bond resume, but we’re confident in her abilities to deliver.
An English rose, Atwell would make an excellent Bond girl – a British ally for Bond with classically beautiful looks. Her experience as Special Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows that she’s not only au fait with dispatching villains, but also doing so whilst working in the clandestine secret services.
At 35, she’s comfortably closer to Craig’s own age and, as a staunch feminist campaigner, would likely only accept the role if it came with real character, gravitas and fight scenes – something we’re all keen to see more of after recent Bond films have done away with the ‘damsel-in-distress’ role.
Older than Daniel Craig, Salma Hayek would follow in the footsteps of Monica Bellucci as a Bond girl older than the superspy himself. She’s glamorous, worldly and authoritative enough to be able to convincingly go toe-to-toe with Bond, teach him a thing or two, or even double cross him…
Also, a serious action role would give Hayek the chance to atone for some of her more recent film choices – we’re looking at you, Muppets Most Wanted…
Here’s a left field choice. Not because of her looks – let’s just all take a moment to appreciate how Scarlett Johansson is almost certainly the best looking woman in the world – or her action credentials – she’s been a superhero, a psychokinetic action heroine, and a militarised cybernetic human – but because of her superstardom.
Rarely are Bond girls top-billed actresses. Rather, they tend to use the exposure the franchise will bring them as a springboard to bigger and better things. With Johansson, the billing would be shared, creating a role unlike any other Bond girl we’ve ever seen – and a fresh dynamic to boot.
Another of our favourites, Rosario Dawson is not only closer to Daniel Craig’s age than half of the women on this list and incredibly beautiful, but she has also never been given a proper chance to go full-action in a project before – not to Bond levels, that is.
Despite a starring role in the Marvel Television Universe and roles in hard-hitters Death Proof and Sin City, we want to see Dawson really rival the super spy and play a role close to that of Halle Berry’s 2004 Bond girl. Feisty, quick-witted and able to pack a real punch.
Typically, a Bond girl is an average of 12 years younger than the actor who plays Bond himself. Rosario Dawson fits that bill, but so does Morena Baccarin, a Brazilian American actress best known to modern audiences as superhero Deadpool’s squeeze, and her starring roles on television series such as Homeland and Gotham.
She’s got form as a quick-witted character in the depths of secret agencies – guest-starring as a terrorist helping the FBI in The Mentalist – as well as classically beautiful looks that always go down well in Bond’s sumptuous, old-school world.
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