Men can keepJames Bond—Blake Livelywants her own pantheon of complex female action icons.
“You have the producers ofBond, but there’s femininity [and] humanity to Stephanie,” Lively toldVarietyat thefilm’s New York City premiereon Monday. “There’s emotionality. You see her emotions in a way that you don’t often in movies like this where a man is at the center.”
Lively explained that, while men are capable of creating well-rounded female heroes on the big screen, a woman’s perspective adds a whole other layer.
“Men have told some of the most beautiful stories about women that I’ve ever seen,” said Lively. “But sometimes you get that thing where they want to make her likable or they want to be sure she seems strong or still seems attractive.”
She added: “They’re worried about these things because they’ve never been a woman.”
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Themom of three— whosuffered an injurywhile shooting the movie — cited one standoutcar chase sequencein the film that is handled differently than previous, more masculine action flicks.
“I’ve never seen a man in a car chase screaming the entire time because he’s terrified,” she said. “And what’s honest about that?”
“It feels like a consolation prize to give us a female James Bond,” Morano also toldVariety. “Why can’t we make new movies that simply star women in these roles? Let women have their own person. James Bond is James Bond.”
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AsDaniel Craigcloses out his run as 007 with April’sNo Time To Die(which addsCaptain MarvelactressLashana Lynchand writerPhoebe Waller-Bridgeto the mix), the question of the franchise’s lead replacement looms.
“He can be of any color, but he is male,” Broccoli recently toldVariety. “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 arefar more interestingthan that.”
The Rhythm Section, which also starsJude LawandSterling K. Brown, is in theaters on Friday.
source: people.com
