The twenty-fifth James Bond film, NO TIME TO DIE, has had quite the trek to the silver screen. Danny Boyle left over creative differences, an injury to Daniel Craig sidelined the 007 actor for several weeks, and a crew member was hurt after an explosion went wrong. Another issue was that just weeks before NO TIME TO DIE was set to start filming, the movie didn't have a finalized script. While director Cary Fukunaga and Scott Z. Burns wrote the script, Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge can also claim a writing credit. The IRON LADY actress was brought in to polish the script earlier in the year, purportedly to refine some of the female characters in the film.
Sadly, a vocal minority has expressed concern that the talented Emmy winner was brought in merely as a gender hire in an attempt at forced diversity. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, James Bond himself, Mr. Daniel Craig, was asked about the notion that Waller-Bridge was a gender hire. The sometimes prickly actor was having none on it, however:
“Look, we’re having a conversation about Phoebe’s gender here, which is f*cking ridiculous,” Craig said. “She’s a great writer. Why shouldn’t we get Phoebe onto Bond? She’s just brilliant,” Craig added. “I had my eye on her ever since the first Fleabag, and then I saw Killing Eve and what she did with that and just wanted her voice. It is so unique — we are very privileged to have her on board.”
Even if Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to refine the female characters, that doesn't make her contribution to NO TIME TO DIE any less important or her talent any less real. At this point, Waller-Bridge's success speaks for itself and I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to employ her writing talents given the right subject matter. Craig rightly points out that Waller-Bridge is a great writer and implies the novel idea of working with the best possible people out there, regardless of gender. I'm not naive enough to believe that Hollywood is a meritocracy, but it's nice to see when the best candidate for the job actually gets the job.
Fleabag is currently streaming on Amazon and you can next see Daniel Craig on the big screen later this month when KNIVES OUT opens November 27.