Goldeneye Star Famke Janssen Has Some Advice For James Bond's Future Villains
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Famke Janssen will likely always be known best as Jean Grey from Fox's "X-Men" movies. But before her turn as the famed Marvel mutant, she appeared in another major franchise, namely "James Bond" in 1995's "GoldenEye." The film came after a six-year break following the release of "License to Kill" and could have been the end of Bond on the big screen. Instead, it breathed new life into the property, with Pierce Brosnan enjoying a healthy run as 007. As the franchise now looks to the future, Janssen has some advice for any future villains who will square off against Bond.
Janssen played the Soviet assassin Xenia Onatopp in "GoldenEye," a secondary foe alongside Sean Bean's 006. In an interview with Variety, Janssen was asked if she had any words of wisdom to offer the next Bond girls or villains as Amazon prepares to make "James Bond 26" under the direction of Denis Villeneuve. Here's what she had to say:
"Be authentically yourself. I hope that whoever they cast in any of the parts, they are not just going to think about the people who've played those parts before or the pressures that come with playing it. I hope that they can be authentically themselves, and I'm sure that it will be absolutely wonderful to watch."
There have been many great villains in "James Bond" history, from Bond's arch-nemesis Blofeld (who's been portrayed by several actors) to the hulking henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel). Many of the more memorable villains have done what Janssen suggested: they did something different. In this case, Xenia was a hypersexual, twisted assassin quite unlike anything we'd seen in these movies before. For a franchise that has been around for more than 60 years, different is good.
Famke Janssen wants to see more female villains in James Bond
Not for nothing, but "GoldenEye" was a massive hit at the box office that helped ensure "James Bond" had a future. That future only got brighter as time went on, with the Daniel Craig era producing some remarkably high highs, such as "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall." Janssen had her part to play in that success, so her words do carry some weight here.
Speaking further, Janssen also revealed that she would like to see more women as villains as "James Bond" looks toward its next era. Bond girls have been a big part of the franchise's history, but not nearly as many of them have been villains. Xenia is part of a legacy that also includes Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) from "The World is Not Enough." Janssen, for her part, hopes to see more of that in the future:
"I hope that there are more female villains, because they are fantastic characters. We've seen the franchise have a lot of interesting characters over the past 60 years, and I'm curious to see what they do next. They've been so clever at reinventing themselves over and over again to remain relevant. I'm very much looking forward to see who is going to play Bond, who else is going to be cast in it, what the storyline is, and what exotic locations they go to."
Amazon gained full control of "James Bond" earlier this year, and there are still many questions about what it has planned. Who will suit up as 007? What will the next movie look like? For now, we wait, but Janssen, like the rest of us, is eager to see how it all unfolds.