Rosamund Pike refreshing take on the “sexism” of the James Bond films
The James Bond franchise is known for its connection to the ridiculous. Whether it be the beheading of double-decker buses, violently cramming Nick Nack into a suitcase or that space battle, in his time, 007 has partaken in some of the cinema’s more unbelievable moments.
From casual racism to overblown set pieces, in its many different guises, the James Bond series has committed a number of visual crimes, causing both laughter and utter disdain. Whilst every title in the franchise is guilty of this absurdity to varying extents, one of the best examples is 2002’s Die Another Day. Starring Pierce Brosnan in his last appearance as Bond, alongside Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike, it’s an outlandish feature that somehow managed to outdo the norm of the day when cheesy action flicks were all the rage.
Telling the story of a James Bond who loses his 00 status under suspicion of leaking secrets to the North Koreans, Die Another Day is notable for its laughable use of gene therapy and the space laser ‘Icarus’. Tussling with 1979’s Moonraker for the crown of most excessive title in the set, no wonder the film’s producers decided to strike a completely different tone with 2006’s Casino Royale.
In 2018, Rosamund Pike looked back at the film and shared some thoughts on the James Bond series’ most mind-blowing aspect: sexism. She explained that while she feels the franchise is “ripe for an incredible amount of sexism”, she added that she never felt uncomfortable on set.
Pike starred as the femme fatale double agent Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, and in the interview with BuzzFeed’s Profile, she looked back on the sexist world of onscreen espionage. She said: “One thing about Bond is that now I look back on it, I think, Gosh. I mean that was a world which was ripe for an incredible amount of sexism”.
However, she believes Bond is saved from being so due to the influence of the series producer, Barbara Broccoli. She opined: “I think, thanks to Barbara Broccoli, who’s the producer of the Bond films, you know, I never was made to feel uncomfortable on set”.
Despite this claim, Pike did reveal that her audition for Frost included a scene in which she was asked to drop her dress. “I was sort of prepared in underwear, and I could drop the dress, and something in me just thought, ‘No, if you’re going to see me in my underwear, you can give me the part.'” She remains unsure of where this courage came from.
Most interestingly, when discussing the potential of a woman playing James Bond, Pike admitted that there should be better roles for women where they’re not obliged to play “sloppy seconds”.
“I don’t think a woman would want sloppy seconds, really. I don’t think she’d want to take over,” she expressed. “By all means, write a kind of kickass female agent…with a legacy that can go on as long as Bond’s legacy has”.
With Phoebe Waller-Bridge brought in to freshen things up for 2021’s No Time To Die, and the 007 status given to Lashana Lynch’s character Nomi, it seems as if future James Bond films might be about to put Pike’s ideas into practice.