Jessica Chastain Wants To Be Idris Ebla’s Bond Villain
There was a lot of James Bond controversey on Tuesday, but Jessica Chastain distracted us all with a brilliant idea.
The world had a pretty intense fit of James Bond rage on Tuesday when Trigger Mortis author Anthony Horowitz said that Idris Elba was ‘too street’ to play 007. There were plenty of knuckle dragging Bond fans who agreed with him, but it sparked the seemingly endless debate about who can play Bond and who can’t.
When you think of James Bond these days, you can’t help but engage in a conversation about who should play him next. That inevitably leads down a path that takes us to the endless debate over whether Idris Elba — a black actor — can play Bond.
The obvious answer is yes, as he has the acting talents to pull it off, the physique to play Bond sexy and he’s immensely popular with the ladies. But there’s a large sect of people who think that just because he’s a black actor, he’s not qualified — and that’s somehow not a racist stance to take.
Amid the controversy over the remark abut Elba, Jessica Chastain took to Twitter to say that not only would she be in a Bond film with Elba but she’d be down with playing the villain too.
If he was Bond I'd play ANYTHING in that film, but yes, a villain could be fun. ; ) https://t.co/jrvpuHuLqJ
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) September 1, 2015
This is something positive to come out of the endlessly racist and disgusting debate over why Idris Elba can’t play Bond. While we can continue to focus our energy on the negativity that this debate brings about, we can channel that into thinking about ways to make an Elba Bond film one of the best.
If Elba playing Bond attracts to-flight stars like Chastain and others to the project, that’s all the more reason to cast him in the role everyone already wants to see him in anyways. Aside from the Elba angle to this, Chastain is perfect for a Bond film — especially in a gender bending role.
Bond villains have mostly always bene males — save for Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough, and to a certain extent Vesper in Casino Royale.
Never once has Bond been up against a woman as the sole villain of a film, as Vesper was just trying to survive while Elektra was aiding Renard in their plot together. Chastain in any role in a Bond film would be fantastic, but having her as a Bond villain might be as good of a decision as making Idris Elba the next Bond.