Sydney Sweeney Dismisses Bond Girl Rumors By Gunning for Bond

Vesper Lynd. Tracy di Vicenzo. Pussy Galore. Honey Ryder. The characters who have loved and lost James Bond are almost as legendary as 007 himself. Thus, while the search is on for a new James Bond, director Denis Villeneuve and producer Amazon are also looking for a new Bond girl. And the most obvious choice is the most popular bombshell in Hollywood right now. Well, obvious to everyone but her.

When Variety asked Sydney Sweeney about the possibility of appearing on screen in the next adventure of the English spy, she had to pause before answering. “I can’t,” began the 28-year-old actress,” before trying again with, “I don’t know.” Then Sweeney admitted, “To be honest, I don’t know all the Bond rumors, but I’ve always been a huge fan of the franchise, and I’m excited and curious to see what they do with it.”

Sweeney’s comments are about what one would expect from someone potentially involved in a major media franchise these days. Whether it’s Andrew Garfield swearing that he’s not returning as Peter Parker for Spider-Man: No Way Home or Adam Driver musing on the fate of his lost Star Wars movie, either the studio machinery is too big to follow or no one wants to risk a spoiler.

Bond predate those other works, as the current franchise stretches back to Sean Connery‘s debut in 1962’s Dr. No. But Eon Productions, who long held the adaptation rights to make movies about the character created by spy-turned-author Ian Fleming, has never been afraid of following in someone else’s succesful footsteps. Eon may have sold those rights to Amazon, and Amazon may have a proper auteur lined up to make the next installment, having secured Dune director Denis Villeneuve, but it’s unlikely that they’ll veer too far from Eon’s process.

That process is particularly important for the Bond girl, a standard trope of the series. In most outings, Bond romances two women. The first either dies or turns against him: Mary Trueblood in Goldfinger or May Day in A View to a Kill. The second becomes his ally in whatever larger plot he’s involved in.

Sometimes, a character such as Vesper Lynd or Tracy di Vicenzo can achieve larger status, hanging over several films as a woman whose death robbed Bond of happiness. And later variations such as Michelle Yeoh’s Wai Lin from Tomorrow Never Dies or Halle Berry’s Jinx Johnson from Die Another Day did give the Bond girl something to do. But they are very much exceptions that prove the rule.

Obviously, there are limitations to the role of a Bond girl. And that might be why Sweeney guns for something more. After allowing that her interest in a 007 project “depends on the script,” Sweeney stated, “I think I’d have more fun as James Bond.”

That’s an audacious request, given that every Bond has been a man and fans lost their minds when Eon cast the blond Daniel Craig instead of sticking with another dark haired fellow. But give that Lashana Lynch did play agent 007 in No Time to Die, maybe the studio would consider Sweeney’s idea. Not that she’d be able to admit anything before Villeneuve is ready. James Bond is still a franchise, no matter who is in the lead.