In the 1950s, James Bond was something completely different. It was not a long-running film series that lasted for decades, with countless leading actors and which was almost a mascot for Britain. In fact, James Bond struggled so much that there was talk of giving the lead role to a woman instead.
This is revealed in the upcoming biography of James Bond author Ian Fleming, written by author Nicholas Shakespeare. according to IndieWire it was stated that due to the weak performances of both Thunderball and Casino Royale, there were plans to bring in Susan Hayward as the new lead actress ahead of the creation of Dr. No, an idea that sprung from the mind of producer Gregory Ratoff.
Considering there was quite a bit of backlash before the last film (No Time to Die) came due to Lashana Lynch taking over the 007 name (and not even becoming James Bond) due to Bond retiring, would this has undoubtedly opened up a whole other can of worms, especially considering how much less progressive society was six decades ago.
Shakespeare writes about the plan: “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached. Gregory Ratoff had the sensational idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward. Ian had thought of several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be the very best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t mind him as Bond if he can anglicize his accent a bit’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).”
While it’s unclear what the future holds for James Bond, co-producer Barbara Broccoli has previously confirmed that Bond will always be a male character, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a female 007 again in the future, does it?