Speaking to Empire Magazine while promoting her upcoming dark comedy Bad Apples, the Irish star revealed that her campaign to join the rebooted 007 franchise as a primary antagonist is far from a passing joke.
“I want to go dark,” Ronan told Empire, doubling down on her desire to step into the franchise’s rogue gallery. “I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain and I’m dead serious.”
Pitching a Young Female Antagonist
Ronan articulated why taking on 007 appeals to her dramatically, highlighting a fresh perspective that the 60-year franchise has rarely explored for its primary overarching villains.
“I think it would be really interesting, having a young female villain,” Ronan elaborated. “Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere, there’s something interesting in that dramatically. So I would love to do more of that.”
While the James Bond series has featured iconic female henchwomen and secondary foes over the decades—such as Famke Janssen’s Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye or Sophie Marceau’s Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough—a main antagonist played by a young female actor would mark a historic first for a main 007 entry.
Action Credentials and a Family Twist
Though celebrated for her acclaimed performances in period dramas and coming-of-age classics like Atonement, Lady Bird, and Little Women, Ronan is no stranger to action or dark psychological territory:
- Action Lineage: Her breakthrough starring turn in Joe Wright’s 2011 thriller Hanna showcased her ability to handle intense physical choreography and play a lethal, trained killer.
- Choosing Bond Over Marvel: Ronan previously revealed she turned down potential Marvel Cinematic Universe offers specifically because she preferred chasing a villainous role in the Bond universe.
- A Real-Life Counterpart: Adding a playful layer to her campaign, Ronan’s husband, Slow Horses star Jack Lowden, has frequently been floated by industry insiders as a potential candidate to play the next James Bond himself.
With EON Productions and Amazon MGM Studios currently developing the next era of 007, Ronan’s persistent and passionate pitch presents producers with a game-changing direction for Bond 26.
