The Hollywood Reporter - 06.11.2019

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 69 NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Find out Lashana Lynch’s and Ana de Armas’ Hollywood role models at THR.COM/VIDEO

KNIVES

: CLAIRE FOLGER/LIONSGATE. FORD: DAVE J HOGAN/GETTY IMAGES.

MOONRAKER, DIES

: UNITED ARTISTS/PHOTOFEST.

AGAIN

: WARNER BROS./PHOTOFEST.

KILL, GOLDENEYE, DIE

: MGM/PHOTOFEST.

still be at work giving his best and

giving the best shots ever,” says

Lynch, who continued filming

while Craig recovered. De Armas’

schedule was shuffled, so she left

for three months and returned in

October to film her scenes.

Along with London’s Pinewood,

where the Cuba scenes were

shot on a set, the cast filmed

in Scotland, Italy, Norway and

Jamaica, the latter of which was

especially significant for Lynch,

whose parents emigrated when

they were teens. “There’s a heat

and spice that comes with Jamaica

that no matter what you’re shoot-

ing, whether it’s a drama or an

action movie, you can’t help but

feel that,” she says.

Being a part of one of the big-

gest franchises in movie history

— and one of the most secretive

— brought its own challenges.

Rumors leak, both true and not

(for example, de Armas says

reports of an intimacy coach

being hired for her scenes with

Craig are false). Everything the

actresses say about the film

makes headlines — and they

can’t say much. In the lobby of the

Charlotte Street Hotel, de Armas

begins to talk about Paloma, then

gets nervous. “I don’t know how

much I can tell you,” she says. Five

months out, only their charac-

ter names have been officially

confirmed, though when pressed,

both actresses do divulge a little

more than previously known.

“[Paloma] is a character that

is very irresponsible,” says de

Armas. “She’s got this bubbliness

of someone who is excited to be

on a mission, but she plays with

this ambiguity — you don’t really

know if she’s like a really trained,

prepared partner for Bond.” Sure,

de Armas is running around in

a gorgeous gown with sky-high

actresses will remain busy until

they take off on the global pro-

motional tour ahead of the film’s

release. In the new year, Lynch

will shoot FX’s new series Y, based

on the comic book series Y: T h e

Last Man, set in a postapocalyptic

world where women rule after a

cataclysmic event leaves just one

man alive. “Every female char-

acter has agency and is equipped

to take over the world, which is a

nice reflection of where the world

— and our industry in particular

— is going right now,” she says.

De Armas’ Marilyn Monroe

biopic Blonde, from Plan B and

Netflix, is awaiting a release

date. “It’s not what I think people

think or have seen before about

Marilyn,” she says. “It’s a very

deep, raw, dark side of the same

story we think we know — behind

the smiles and the glamour.”

She’s going straight from the

Bond set to New Orleans to shoot

New Regency’s erotic thriller Deep

Water with Ben Affleck. She says,

with a wry smile, “So maybe I’ll

sleep next year, someday.”

heels (“No one can train you or

prepare you for that,” she says),

but she adds that “brains and

looks are equal this time. She’s

very smart. She helps Bond navi-

gate through certain things that

he wouldn’t be able to do alone.”

So far, the biggest leak about

No Time to Die is that Lynch’s

character begins the film having

inherited the “007” designa-

tion from Bond, who has retired.

(Lynch won’t confirm the rumor,

but sources close to the film tell

THR that it’s accurate.)

When the rumor leaked, the

trolls on Twitter went crazy, with

many people expressing fervent

anger that a black woman was

being named 007. Lynch says she’s

been taking it in stride. “It doesn’t

dishearten me. It makes me feel

quite sad for some people because

their opinions, they’re not even

from a mean place — they’re

actually from a sad place,” she

says. “It’s not about me. People

are reacting to an idea, which has

nothing to do with my life.”

She said every once in a while,

she has messaged a hater back,

usually saying something very

nice. “Then they’ve been like, ‘Oh

my gosh, thank you so much!’ But

it’s an interesting test because it

reminds them that they definitely

wouldn’t say that to someone’s

face,” she says, though she adds

that she doesn’t plan on interact-

ing with trolls anymore.

It’s not only Lynch and de

Armas who have a lot riding on

No Time to Die, but also studio

MGM, which for the first time

will distribute the film via its

United Artists Releasing ban-

ner co-owned with Annapurna

(Universal is handling interna-

tional). “Lashana and Ana both

have that magical combination

of a remarkable acting range

matched with undeniable cha-

risma,” says Jonathan Glickman,

MGM’s Motion Picture Group

president, noting that the team

behind Bond is “committed to

continuing to bring on emerging

talents that allow the films to

expand their relevance.”

In the meantime, both

Left: De Armas (left) and Katherine Langford

in Knives Out. Right (from left): Sylvia Hoeks,

Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and de Armas

promoted Blade Runner 2049.

Bond Women: Mixed Career Trajectories

According to industry lore, playing opposite 007 can be a killer, but some defy the odds

NAME FILM TRAJECTORY RESULT

After playing NASA astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead

opposite Roger Moore’s 007, Chiles took a break

from acting for several years. Her career never

regained momentum, although she has appeared

on several TV series, including CSI and L.A. Law.

LOIS

CHILES

Moonraker

1979

Her work playing geologist Stacey Sutton in

A View to a Kill earned her only one award: a

Razzie for worst actress. In 2015, Roberts said

she was never offered another lead role. She later

played Laura Prepon’s mother on That ’70s Show.

TANYA

ROBERTS

A View to a Kill

1985

The Polish-Swedish actress, who played

programmer Natalya Simonova, didn’t appear in

another major film for five years. “I was confused,

and I think I was a little bit lost,” she told

Actor News in 2004 about that time in her life.

IZABELLA

SCORUPCO

GoldenEye

1995

Berry’s NSA agent Jinx was so popular, there

were plans for a spinoff (it was eventually

scrapped when other female action films weren’t

performing). But the Oscar winner went on to play

Catwoman and Storm in multiple X-Men movies.

HALLE

BERRY

Die Another Day

2002

She appeared in Playboy the same year she

starred as Bond’s main squeeze Domino Petachi,

and neither hurt her career. Basinger went

on to star in The Natural, Batman and won an

Oscar for L.A. Confidential in 1997.

KIM

BASINGER

Never Say

Never Again

1983

Pierce Brosnan was so impressed with Yeoh

(she did her own fight scenes) that he called her

“the female James Bond.” She went on to star in

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of

a Geisha and, most recently, Crazy Rich Asians.

MICHELLE

YEOH

Tomorrow

Never Dies

1997