--- title: Idris Elba Says He Wants a Female James Bond in Interview description: The actor, who has long been a fan favorite to play the role of Bond after Daniel Craig, suggested a new direction for the franchise. canonical: https://time.com/5112881/idris-elba-woman-bond/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-22T18:42:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:56.496Z og:title: Idris Elba Wants to See a Female James Bond: "Why Not?" og:description: The actor, a fan favorite to take on the 007 role, has another idea og:url: https://time.com/5112881/idris-elba-woman-bond/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6d200ec162474e6/6988f8f9bc6cfc71bf3e4b98/idris-elba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2017 Toronto International Film Festival - "The Mountain Between Us" Premiere - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Idris Elba Wants to See a Female James Bond: "Why Not?" twitter:description: The actor, a fan favorite to take on the 007 role, has another idea twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6d200ec162474e6/6988f8f9bc6cfc71bf3e4b98/idris-elba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Idris Elba Wants to See a Female James Bond Already > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 22, 2018 6:42 PM UTC  Actor Idris Elba speaks to the media at the premiere of "The Mountain Between Us" during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 10, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. Actor Idris Elba speaks to the media at the premiere of "The Mountain Between Us" during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 10, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.J. Countess—WireImage  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 22, 2018 6:42 PM UTC Idris Elba has long been [a fan favorite](http://time.com/4419222/idris-elba-not-playing-james-bond-rumors/) to take over as 007\. But in a new [interview](https://www.facebook.com/Variety/videos/10155187883432197/?permPage=1r)_,_ Elba gracefully suggested that he’s not the right man for the James Bond job — because it might be time for a woman to step into the beloved role. “I would be interested in having a Bond character other than being a male,” he mused in a [video shared by _Variety_](https://www.facebook.com/Variety/videos/10155187883432197/?permPage=1r) on Facebook. “It could be a woman, it could be a black woman, it could be a white woman. But I think that character, everyone would like to see \[them\] do something different with it, you know. Why not?” Elba, who has been dogged with Bond rumors for years, has [categorically denied](http://time.com/4419222/idris-elba-not-playing-james-bond-rumors/) that his future lies with downing shaken martinis and taking covert meetings with M. In the meantime, potential women Bonds will have some time to prepare for the audition process, as Daniel Craig [still has one more](http://time.com/4902553/daniel-craig-james-bond-movie-007/) sequel to make for the storied franchise, marking the 25th installment and expected out in 2019\. He followed Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, Roger Moore and more in taking on the titular role. Perhaps this year’s much-anticipated [_Ocean’s 8_](http://time.com/5070941/oceans-8-trailer-released-sandra-bullock/) will help pave the way for the female-driven spy thriller. After all, 2017 [was dominated](http://time.com/money/4843774/wonder-woman-box-office-worldwide/) by women in blockbuster roles; Bond’s makers might be very ready to consider a new path by the time 2020 rolls around. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5112881/idris-elba-woman-bond/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5112881/idris-elba-woman-bond/"},"headline":"Idris Elba Wants to See a Female James Bond Already","datePublished":"2018-01-22T18:42:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:56.496Z","description":"The actor, who has long been a fan favorite to play the role of Bond after Daniel Craig, suggested a new direction for the franchise.","url":"https://time.com/5112881/idris-elba-woman-bond/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","James Bond","Idris Elba"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6d200ec162474e6/6988f8f9bc6cfc71bf3e4b98/idris-elba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6d200ec162474e6/6988f8f9bc6cfc71bf3e4b98/idris-elba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Toronto International Film Festival - \"The Mountain Between Us\" Premiere - Arrivals","caption":"2017 Toronto International Film Festival - \"The Mountain Between Us\" Premiere - Arrivals","creditText":"J. 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