By Ben Ellery for The Mail on Sunday
Published: 22:34 GMT, 16 March 2019 | Updated: 22:37 GMT, 16 March 2019
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He took over his pivotal role in the Bond movies from a woman.
But Ralph Fiennes has walked into a major casting row by saying that 007 should never change gender. Nor, he believes, should James Bond be played by a black actor.
Fiennes, who succeeded Dame Judi Dench as spymaster M, insists black or female stars should be given their own action films to showcase their talents, away from the Bond franchise.
‘I would like to see a great black actor inhabit a Bond-like persona,’ he said. ‘But not necessarily be in the same franchise.
Ralph Fiennes says James Bond should remain a white man and black or female actors should be given their own action films
The actor took over the role of M from Judi Dench after she left the franchise in Skyfall
His comments provoked a lot of criticism on Twitter but many have come out in support of the actor
‘I think we could remake the idea of a Bond as a woman or as an actor of any ethnicity in another vehicle,’ he told BBC2’s Newsnight.
The 56-year-old’s intervention in the long-running debate over who could play the suave secret agent comes as he prepares to start filming the 25th Bond movie, which has the working title Shatterhand.
His comments provoked criticism on Twitter, with one poster storming: ‘Fiennes has lost the plot.’ But others supported the actor, saying Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, had always intended for the spy to be white.
One wrote: ‘Happy to see a black actor play an MI6 agent or
