Biographer Claims Female James Bond Film Was Considered Even Before Sean Connery’s ‘Dr. No’

There’s no denying the popularity of James Bond as a character. The gentleman spy has grown into one of the most enduring and iconic characters in cinema, but a gentlewoman spy almost became a reality. As revealed by novelist Nicholas Shakespeare, there was once the floating idea of a female 007.

In his biography, titled “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man”, the writer shared that producer Gregory Ratoff considered starring Academy Award-winning actress Susan Hayward as the titular role in a film adaptation of the first Bond novel, “Casino Royale”.

“Since the mid 1950s, many well-known actors had been approached. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward,” reads an extract from the biography (via IndieWire). “Ian had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly anglicise his accent’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).”

“Ian Fleming: The Complete Man” is set to be a biography of the author, best known for penning the James Bond novels. Hayward, meanwhile, was a big name during the 1940s and 1950s, with acting credits in highly-rated films like I Married a Witch (1942), Canyon Passage (1946), Garden of Evil (1954), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and I Want To Live! (1958).

The pitch was apparently never a serious consideration for Fleming, who wanted Richard Burton in the lead role. The latter turned it down, resulting in a talent search that eventually took off with Sean Connery in 1962’s Dr. No, the first James Bond film. Interestingly enough, Fleming thought he didn’t fit the bill.

“Fleming said, ‘He’s not my idea of Bond at all, I just want an elegant man, not this roughneck,’” recalled Robert Fenn, Fleming’s film agent.

The casting would later make Connery the face of 007, where he reprised the role in five more entries: From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds Are Forever. It wasn’t until over 60 years later that Lashana Lynch would don the moniker in the Daniel Craig-led No Time to Die, becoming the first Black woman to do so.

In a previous interview with Radio Times, Craig said that James Bond shouldn’t be played by a woman. “The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, for a woman?” he stated then.

Now that Craig has bade farewell to the role, after scoring the longest Bond tenure to date, the search for a successor continues. While there are other contenders like Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy and Henry Cavill, Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems to be the top billing for now, having been endorsed by former Bond stars Pierce Brosnan and George Lazenby.