This woman will be the new James Bond - actress confirms 007 role

Lashana Lynch has confirmed that she will play the next 007 in the forthcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die.

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Lynch, who previously appeared in 2019’s Captain Marvel, had long been rumoured as a potential replacement for Daniel Craig’s Bond in No Time to Die.

Who is Lashanna Lynch?

Lynch was born and raised in Hammersmith, London, and studied at the ArtsEd drama school there.

Her first onscreen role came in 2007 on UK soap opera The Bill, but she has since won increasingly high profile roles.

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In 2012 she made her big-screen debut in British drama Fast Girls, and most recently she starred alongside Brie Larson in comic book blockbuster Captain Marvel.

The 32-year old actor confirmed the news to Harper’s Bazaar in an interview this week, describing her sense of responsibility relating to the role, and detailing the reaction to her casting when the news was leaked earlier this year.

In the interview, she said she had experienced a surge of online abuse following reports back in April that a Black woman would be taking on the Bond role in the franchise’s next offering.

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The star said she deleted her social media apps for a week and spent a lot of time meditating or seeing family, and handled the abuse by reminding herself it was not personal.

She said: “I am one Black woman – if it were another Black woman cast in the role, it would have been the same conversation, she would have got the same attacks, the same abuse."

Will she be called Bond in the film?

In the new film, Lynch will play the role of Nomi, a 00 agent who steps in to replace Daniel Craig’s Bond after he is exiled.

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Parts of the film were shot in Jamaica, where Lynch’s parents are from, and she told Harper's Bazaar that filming there gave her a “deeper understanding of what I’ve chosen to do”.

She said: “I didn’t want to waste an opportunity when it came to what Nomi might represent.

“I searched for at least one moment in the script where Black audience members would nod their heads, tutting at the reality but glad to see their real life represented.”

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“In every project I am part of, no matter the budget or genre, the Black experience that I’m presenting needs to be 100 per cent authentic."

What do we know about No Time to Die?

No Time to Die will be out in cinemas on 2 April 2021, after facing a number of delays both in production and in scheduling its release, due to coronavirus.

Lynch will become the eighth person to portray 007 in film, in what will be the franchise’s 25th feature.

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Appearing alongside her are a number of high profile stars, including Ralph Fiennes as M, Noamie Harris as Moneypenny, Ben Wishaw as Q, and Rami Malek as villain Safin.

As well as shooting on location in Jamaica, the film also shot in the Scottish Cairngorms, London, The Faroe Islands, Norway and Italy.

A verison of this article originally appeared on our sister title, The Scotsman

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