FIRST AFRICAN
IN a move that has left Bond fans shaken and stirred, the treasured 007 code name will pass to a woman when the secret agent leaves MI6 in the next film.
But British actress Lashana Lynch, who will play a new character, being assigned the code is already a twist too far for one former 007 star.
Trina Parks, the first black Bond girl, who played alongside Sean Connery as assassin Thumper in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever disagrees with the move.
She also shoots down any notion that the world famous spy should be played by a woman.
“Lashana is a great actress, but I don’t really agree with her becoming 007,” Trina says. “It’s not about her colour – a black James Bond, sure. But as a man.
“It’s just because Bond, the spy codenamed 007, was written by Ian Fleming as a man. Miss Bond doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
Trina, 71, says women taking centre stage, defeating a male adversary, is a
welcome plot move – and one which Hollywood has already embraced.
She says: “I like that. But I don’t feel James Bond has to go there.
“It’s been a tremendous franchise since the 60s and they’ve always been innovators not followers. They set a standard… with a man as Bond. That’s how I think it should stay.”
Trina praises the Bond films for helping to pave the way for more powerful ethnic roles in movies dominated for decades by white stars.
She says Bond boss Albert “Cubby” Broccoli never once mentioned her being black – and even after the movie’s release, no one made a big deal about it.
Trina insists: “The Bond franchise has gone out of the box with black actors and women of colour more than any other.
“In Hollywood, production executives were looking at women who were sexually attractive to their societal circles. But Bond has been ahead of the times to present a black actress in a major role.
“It’s commonplace to see ethnicity in all the Bonds – and, of course, Naomie Harris is Miss Moneypenny and Jeffrey