No Time to Die: Lashana Lynch on Film's Approach to Female Characters

In a recent interview with Tech Radar, No Time to Die star Lashana Lynch has finally opened up about the upcoming Bond film’s new depiction of female characters. She confirmed that fans should expect to see an updated approach that aims to change or fix the way the long-running action franchise has been handling its women characters throughout the years.

“I think with women’s current agency, [it’s] the way in which they view themselves and the way in which they portray themselves as being – with the women that I’ve been in contact with – completely authentic and completely knowing that they’re enough,” Lynch said. “You see that oozing through the characters in this, both the female characters that have [already] existed within the franchise, and the brand new ones like myself. You just have this whole sense of empowerment that is really important to feel when you’re going to work, but also important to show younger generations coming up.”

In addition, she also talked about collaborative process she had with director Cary Fukanaga and writers such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge on creating her character Nomi, who was previously rumored as the one who will take on the mantle of Agent 007 from Daniel Craig. “I knew who Nomi would be, because I had direct conversations with Barbara Broccoli and Cary about who they wanted her to be, but also who I wanted her to be and alongside that I spoke with our writers and Phoebe Waller-Bridge who has done wonderfully in collaborating with us. And what I saw was a woman who had agency, who was powerful, who was committed, and who believed that she was the best person at MI6 [laughs].”

Lynch continued, “She’s a Black woman, she’s forward-thinking. She’s unique, and she has many unique selling points that carry her forward in her career. So when I saw her on the page, it was very beautifully written, and I didn’t feel like I had to add anything too crazy. It was there for the taking, and I just did the best I could to fulfill what they’d already created.”

Confirmed cast members returning for the film include Daniel Craig reprising his iconic role as James Bond for the last time, Ralph Fiennes as M, Lea Seydoux (Spectre), Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as A, with Rory Kinnear as Tanner and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. New cast members confirmed for the film include Dali Benssalah, Billy Magnussen, Ana De Armas, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, and Rami Malek.

Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) will direct No Time to Die which features a script written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Scott Z. Burns with Cary Joji Fukunaga and Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve).

EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios have partnered with Universal Pictures on the worldwide release of the 25th James Bond film. The superspy’s previous outing, Spectre, opened in U.S. theaters on November 16, 2015. The film earned $200 million domestically and $680.6 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $880.7 million.

You can pick up Daniel Craig’s entire James Bond filmography here.

No Time to Die is still set to hit UK theaters on November 12 and U.S. theaters on November 20.