Ever since Spectre reached theaters in 2015, the James Bond franchise has sought stability. While it was assumed Daniel Craig would give it one more go as 007 (at least), pundits lobbied on the sidelines for massive changes to the series, asking for Idris Elba or a female Bond to finally get the spotlight. Well, Dominic West was asked about the future of Britain's most famous spy in a recent magazine interview, and he realized that it's probably time for there to be a transgender Bond, even singling out Hannah Graf for the role, stating:
There's a very cool woman who's the wife of an actor in [West's recent film] Colette, who is a captain in the electrical engineers, the highest-ranking transgender soldier in the army. She's done two tours of Afghanistan. She's a beautiful blonde girl who could be Bond, yes. That's actually a brilliant idea. They should have a transgender Bond because there are a lot of transgender people in the army. They'd be ideal because they can do everything. That's a great idea! A transgender Bond.
Hannah Graf is married to Jake Graf, a British actor who appears alongside Dominic West in Colette, the period biopic about ghost writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley). As The Wire star points out, Hannah Graf is a soldier with an intense background and a set of skills that likely would endear her to the James Bond role.
Though undoubtedly flattered by Dominic West's call to The Times UK for her to play James Bond, Hannah Graf took to social media to defer and say that 007 actually would be a better fit for her husband, an actual actor:
No matter the answer -- a female Bond, an African-American Bond, a transgender Bond -- the consensus appears to be that people want a shake up in the decades-old cinematic spy series. Historically, the role of 007 has gone to a suave, rugged white male, as author Sir Ian Fleming envisioned him. Though, after countless movies in the franchise, the audience (or, a part of the audience) is looking for something different, to see how it might play.
That change won't arrive with the next movie, as Daniel Craig appears ready to step into the Aston Martin for his fifth Bond adventure, and the 25th overall movie, in 2020. But the door is creaking open ever so slowly for radical change in the franchise. Before Cary Fukunaga was hired for this Bond 25 gig, the creative team almost went with Danny Boyle for a non-canon take on the spy that might have proven that the series could benefit from a shakeup.
Also, there has been talk of Idris Elba doing a Bond movie at the same time as Daniel Craig. Why not? Bond stood the test of time, but the franchise could be shaken (not stirred), for the benefit of creativity. Right?
