When it was released, Spectre struck many a James Bond fan as a disappointment. It was coming on the heels of the phenomenal Skyfall, and even shared a director with that box office juggernaut, and had an odd take on Blofeld. But, there are aspects that work, including the opening and the non-traditional “Bond Girl” role for Monica Bellucci.
While on the promotional tour for Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Bellucci sat down with Vanity Fair and was asked about a few of her past roles. Considering she was 50 when director Sam Mendes reached out to her, Bellucci thought it would be for the role of M, a role played in Skyfall (and throughout Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as well as Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) by Dame Judi Dench. But, no, it was for a “Bond Woman,” and Bellucci marked the oldest of that iconic group, eclipsing Goldfinger‘s Honor Blackman, who was 37 at the time of that film’s production.
What Did Bellucci Have to Say About the “Revolutionary” Role?
On one hand, Bellucci’s Donna Lucia Sciarra isn’t in Spectre much. But, on the other hand, her brief part has a significant impact. It’s a layered, if not exactly developed, role that Bellucci nails. On playing the oldest “Bond Girl” to date, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star said:
To be in the movie for me, at my age, was kind of revolutionary. Because, the subject came out of a time, where it was really something new that a mature woman could be close to James Bond. Also because Daniel Craig is younger than me, in reality. It proves that things are changing, and we are in a new era, and women have such an impact in society. And I think it is an example, this movie.
It’s amazing the casting of Bellucci ruffled some feathers back in 2015. This is especially true given it’s the same franchise that produced A View to a Kill, in which Roger Moore is 57 and “Bond Girl” Tanya Roberts was 35 (and playing a 29-year-old, much less).
But, times are changing, and Spectre goes to show that Bond is not incapable of change, both as an IP and as a man.
The full Vanity Fair interview follows below.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
, which Bellucci stars in,
is now playing exclusively in theaters.
