Gemma Arterton has reflected on her role in James Bond film Quantum of Solace, and on the legacy of the “Bond girl” in the spy franchise.
Arteron, whose BBC drama Black Narcissus aired on Sunday 27 November, starred as Strawberry Fields – an intelligence operative working for the British Secret Service – in the 2008 movie.
During one scenario, Bond (Daniel Craig) and Fields are supposed to be posing as teachers on sabbatical who are staying at a cheap hostel.
Bond refuses, and instead books them into a five-star hotel. During their stay, Arterton ends up being “seduced” by 007.
Speaking to The Sun, Arterton claimed to still receive criticism for the part, and said she had realised there is “still so much wrong with Bond women”.
“At the beginning of my career, I was poor as a church mouse and I was happy just to be able to work and earn a living,” she said.
“I still get criticism for accepting Quantum Of Solace, but I was 21, I had a student loan, and you, know, it was a Bond film.”
She added: “But as I got older I realised there was so much wrong with Bond women. Strawberry should have just said no, really, and worn flat shoes.”
Earlier this year, Arterton told The Telegraph that she would avoid roles like Strawberry Fields now.
“I can't really remember what's in it or what I did, but I know I wouldn't choose a role like that now,” she said. “Because she was funny and she was sweet, but she didn't really have anything to do – or a backstory.”
Also this year, Naomie Harris, who plays Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall, Spectre and the forthcoming No Time to Die, said she believed the franchise had outgrown the term “Bond girl” thanks to the evolution of its female characters.
“I look at the older Bond movies, and the term girl is probably appropriate because they aren’t fully fleshed-out characters,” she said.
“But particularly in No Time to Die, they are formidable women driving the plot forward.”
