Jenna Ortega has spoken out about the trend of remaking iconic films with female leads.
THE Wednesday the star was doing an interview with MTV together with her Beetle Juice Beetle Juice co-star Catherine O'Hara. Host Josh Horowitz asked Ortega what she thought of other possible sequels, including whether she'd like to star in a sequel to another Tim Burton classic, Edward Scissorhandswhich hypothetically could be called Edith Scissorhands with Ortega in the role of Johnny Depp?
While Ortega and O'Hara initially found the idea hilarious, Ortega quickly added, “I love that there are so many more female leads these days, I think it's so special, but we should have our own,” she said. “I don't like it when it's like a spin-off, I don't want to see 'Jamie Bond.' You know? I want to see another badass.”
The comment comes as another press interview is getting some attention, and has also raised the idea of rethinking James Bond. At the Venice International Film Festival on Tuesday, Daniel Craig appeared with director Luca Guadagnino in support of their film Queerwhere Craig has sex scenes with co-star Omar Apollo.
Craig, whose version of Bond was killed in 2021 There is no time to die — was asked if Queer meant Bond might one day identify as LGBTQ+. Guadagnino silenced the question, “Guys, let’s get in the room for a second as adults.”
The idea of shaking up, not just mixing up, the straight, white, and often chauvinistic James Bond has been a topic of debate for years. Longtime franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has previously expressed a point of view that echoes Ortega's, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, “I think that [the next James Bond] it's going to be a man because I don't think a woman should play James Bond,” she said. “I believe in creating characters for women and not just having women play male roles. I don't think there are enough great roles for women, and it's very important to me that we make films for women about women. It should be British, so British can be anything [ethnicity or race].”
There have certainly been popular films that have offered a female James Bond-like character, such as the highly praised 2017 action film Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, 2010s Salt with Angelina Jolie and the 2021 Marvel hit Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson. Additionally, although she wasn't the lead character in a film, Rebecca Ferguson was widely considered outstanding in her fan-favorite role as former MI6 secret agent Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and its numerous sequels.