There’s been excement about Q’s queer revelatn ‘No Time to Die’ but the anchise’s first gay characters appeared all the way back 1971’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. Fifty years on, Adam Bloodworth talks to the actors who played Mr Wt and Mr Kidd about why they’re worth celebratg
Contents:
- JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
- 'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
- JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS PRODUCER
- ‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
- JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS BARBARA BROCLI
- DANIEL CRAIG: JAM BOND STAR REVEALS WHY HE GO TO GAY BARS
- BEN WHISHAW SAYS HE FOUND HIS 'JAM BOND' GAY CHARACTER REVEAL 'UNSATISFYG'
- BEN WHISHAW UNSATISFIED BY HIS BOND CHARACTER’S GAY REVEAL: I THOUGHT ABOUT QUTNG IT
- 'NO TIME TO DIE' ACTOR BEN WHISHAW WANTS A GAY JAM BOND: 'THAT WOULD BE REAL PROGRS'
- BOND’S BEN WHISHAW WANTS GAY ACTOR TO REPLACE DANIEL CRAIG, AND HE KNOWS TWO ‘IAL’ MEN
- JAM BOND: GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS FILM'S PRODUCER
- JAM BOND WALKS TO A GAY BAR. BUT SHOULD HE?
JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
* bond gay *
is no doubt one of the most macho movie anchis of all time, but om the moment I saw Golneye as a ltle gay kid at a iend's hoe, I was hooked.
But Bond movi also feature badass and fabulo women, tons of drama and some ser emotnal moments -- exactly what a ltle gay kid Craig's turn as Bond has shaken thgs up, serly mornizg the anchise terms of both style and story. No Time to Die is the 25th official Bond movie and Craig's last -- and troduc the anchise's first out gay character a moment that got me One light spoiler ahead.
'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
Ben Whishaw says the 007 reveal that his character Q is gay was maybe not handled as effective as uld have been. * bond gay *
It's the first time ever a Jam Bond movie that a character has been explicly gay, and 's actually acknowledged out loud, no ls.
Nila Dove/MGMThis isn't to say there haven't been implied queer characters or super gay moments before. In Skyfall, Bond and villa Silva (Javier Barm) have a homoerotic terrogatn scene -- and don't even get me started on the naked torture sequence Caso Royale.
Havg a ma supportg character be openly gay a anchise like Bond is a big al, ma better by the fact that Whishaw is gay himself.
JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS PRODUCER
Ben Whishaw, who plays Q the seri, has suggted openly gay actors, Le Evans and "Bridgerton" star Jonathan Bailey, for the role. * bond gay *
And bee Q appears every Bond movie and is sometim played by the same actor even when Bond is rest, Whishaw's gay Q uld appear future Bond movi.
13:19Pl, No Time to Die is jt one of the mpit and gayt Jam Bond movi ever. Ana Armas' cktail-chuggg character Paloma is stantly inic, exactly what gays want om a Bond girl: betiful, funny and jt pla badass. While I doubt we'll see a gay Jam Bond anytime soon, the hope of more progrsive stori and character reprentatn has me exced for what Time To Die was released Sept.
No Time to Die featur a scene that seems to nfirm Ben Whishaw's Q is gay, makg his character the first ally of Jam Bond (played by Daniel Craig) to be out as a member of the LGBTQ+ the 007 anchise has prevly had characters that were d gay or were LGBTQ+ the Ian Flemg books, the were nearly all the new Bond movie (**spoilers ahead**), Bond and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) make a surprise vis to Q's apartment to lnch a vert missn whout the knowledge of M (Ralph Fienn). Avengers: Endgame h the headl for a scene which a man mourns the loss of his male partner durg "The Blip, " for example, while the more recent Jungle Cise featur a scene which Jack Whehall's character some have praised the scen, others have cricised them for beg mor moments that are tratgly y, that avoid speakg plaly about characters' gay liv. Meanwhile, some viewers have poted out that the films should seek to tegrate their characters' sexuali throughout the film, rather than talk about them short clips that seem to be signed so they n easily be cut out untri wh anti-gay laws and sentiments.
‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
Jam Bond film producer Barbara Brocli has said that she had to fight to keep gay ht scen the film Skyfall. | ITV Natnal News * bond gay *
As No Time to Die has only been released a few untri so far, however, remas to be seen whether the film will ed this scene ls tolerant this Q scene may only be a mor moment, is a landmark a anchise that has prevly had gay villas, wh their homosexualy d as part of what mak them so example, the novel Diamonds are Forever, Felix Leer spects that sadistic killers Mr.
Kidd are gay – somethg the movie leans to by havg them hold hands and say that one character is attractive "for a lady. The latt Bond movie "No Time to Die" hts that the character is gay. The novel Goldfger featur the homophobic trope that Psy Galore only beme a lbian after beg sexually abed by a man.
In the movie, meanwhile, she is d lbian, but is implied that Bond is able to turn her straight wh his male this Q scene No Time to Die suffers om the same problems as other morn blockbters that overpromise and unrliver on LGBTQ+ ntent, do speak for the efforts the anchise has ma to be more makers of Skyfall, for example, have spoken about havg to fight to keep a scene which Bond flirts wh Silva (Javier Barm) and hts at a prev gay experience.
JAM BOND’S GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS BARBARA BROCLI
Whishaw, who me out himself 2013, has prevly played gay characters like Norman Stt A Very English Sndal and Danny Holt London Spy.
In 2019, The Sun reported that Whishaw was lobbyg the Bond team to clu a gay character – though this should be treated wh some scepticism, as filmg had already begun on the film when the report me recently, he has h headl for advotg for a gay actor to play Bond. Jam Bond’s ht Skyfall that he may have had a gay experience his past was a missn too far for stud executiv, acrdg to the film’s producer, who said she had to fight attempts to cut the scene. ”The signifince of the scene was wily bated at the time – screenwrer John Logan said was “playg the sort of homoerotic rd that is sort of always there [ Bond films]” – but acrdg to Brocli almost didn’t make the fal versn, a global smash that ma $1.
“I thk there’s a huge homoerotic unrtow a lot of Bond movi, ” he former 007 claimed Brocli would never allow a gay Bond her lifetime. Speakg 2015, Pierce Brosnan said he was open to the ia of a gay 007 but the anchise’s gatekeeper might have different ias.
DANIEL CRAIG: JAM BOND STAR REVEALS WHY HE GO TO GAY BARS
” said Brosnan, when asked whether he uld picture a gay Bond. I don’t thk Barbara would allow a gay Bond to happen her lifetime.
BEN WHISHAW SAYS HE FOUND HIS 'JAM BOND' GAY CHARACTER REVEAL 'UNSATISFYG'
It seems the 'Q' LGBTQ+ now stands for the latt Jam Bond movie, No Time to Die, which also happens to be Daniel Craig's last the role, a classic character fally reveals what we've spected for several movi: that he's gay. "Whishaw, who is gay real life, recently told Attu that he'd love to see a gay Jam Bond. This isn’t to give eher of those away, but to divulge a third: that Bond’s handy gadget man, Q, is gay.
)All of which mak gay henchmen Mr Wt and Mr Kidd back 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, all the more remarkable. To give some ntext, 1970, the year the film was shot, 70 per cent of Amerins thought homosexual relatns were wrong, while the UK was only three years to Wt and Mr Kidd were played by Bce Glover and Putter Smh, two straight men, but even then they reportedly riled Connery. Glover, who is now 89, remembers the star beg unfortable wh homoerotic jok durg the shoot.
BEN WHISHAW UNSATISFIED BY HIS BOND CHARACTER’S GAY REVEAL: I THOUGHT ABOUT QUTNG IT
“He didn’t know me, so he thought I was gay. Villas throughout cema history have tend to reflect current “fears” and attus, and homosexuals have a long history of beg vilified.
It’s a topic wrer Vo Rso explor his semal 1981 book The Celluloid Closet, which ns through onscreen queer stereotypg om the Sixti to the Eighti, om Dr Frank-N-Furter The Rocky Horror Picture Show to Sharon Stone’s bisexual Cathere Tramell Basic and director Guy Haton were rponsible for nceivg the characters for the screen and feels as if they med edy orr to create gay characters sued to themselv and mastream dienc of the time. “I didn’t want to be that kd of clichéd gay guy, ” Glover rells, thkg perhaps of the mpns of Richard Burton and Rex Harrison’s gay barbershop uple 1969’s Stairse.
'NO TIME TO DIE' ACTOR BEN WHISHAW WANTS A GAY JAM BOND: 'THAT WOULD BE REAL PROGRS'
”Lowbridge-Ellis go so far as to pots out that much about the characters is, actually, “unniably homophobic”.
From the way Mr Wt was dispatched wh a bomb up his backsi to the obv fact that here were two straight men makg margalised gay men the butt of their jok, ’s easy to argue how Wt and Kidd were explog the LGBT+ muny rather than supportg by simply beg onscreen, the duo had reprented the gay muny – and ma a whole crowd cludg myself feel seen – whether their creators had tend to or not. A ht Skyfall that Jam Bond may have had a gay experience the past was almost cut om the 2012 film, acrdg to the anchise’s producer Barbara scene qutn saw Daniel Craig’s 007 taken hostage by the movie’s villa, Raoul Silva, played by Javier rs Bond’s cht and thigh while the hero is bound to a chair, and says: “You’re tryg to remember your trag now. “The night of the premiere, that le, jt the whole place rocked then… I remember lookg at the stud executive [and] gog, ‘See, told you, ’” said film’s director, Sam Mens, add: “I thk there’s a huge homoerotic unrtow a lot of Bond movi.
However, acrdg to a new documentary on the inic pop culture figure, one particular torture scene was almost emed "too gay" to be clud the Skyfall, one such moment was particularly horny -- and particularly gay. RELATED | Benedict Cumberbatch Explas Why He's Playg Gay New Wtern Film. Daniel Craig has revealed that he go to gay bars to avoid "aggrsive" men, havg grown "sick" of gettg to Jam Bond actor, who has jt released his fifth and fal film as 007, No Time To Die, said was tired of the "aggrsive d*** swgg hetero bars".
BOND’S BEN WHISHAW WANTS GAY ACTOR TO REPLACE DANIEL CRAIG, AND HE KNOWS TWO ‘IAL’ MEN
"I've been gog to gay bars for as long as I n remember, " he said. "And one of the reasons - bee I don't get to fights gay bars that often.
JAM BOND: GAY HT WAS ALMOST CUT OM SKYFALL, SAYS FILM'S PRODUCER
The 53-year-old told Bce Bozzi on his SiriXM podst, Lunch Wh Bce, he felt gay bars "would jt be a good place to go".
"You may also be terted :Elk livg wh tyre around neck for two years is fally eeNew antibody jectn able to prevent and treat COVID, study showsSky to replace satelle dish and box wh smart TV setsCraig, who has been married to actrs Rachel Weisz sce 2011, also admted there were benefs to beg a man terted women a gay bar.
Subscribe to the Backstage podst on Apple Podsts, Google Podsts, Spotify, SpreakerCraig and Bozzi remisced on how they had once untentnally generated media attentn after gettg "ught" together at a gay bar Venice Beach, California, 2010.
JAM BOND WALKS TO A GAY BAR. BUT SHOULD HE?
Heck, even gay No Time to Die actor Ben Whishaw says 's time for a gay actor to fill Bond's perfectly polished sho.
RELATED | Famo Homoerotic Jam Bond Scene Almost 'Too Gay' For Stud Execs.
Durg a recent terview wh The Guardian, Whishaw — who is gay — said that he had been disappoted by how brief the scene was when he first read the film's script. However, Whishaw fend MGM — who produced the film — om accatns om crics who said the stud was strong-armed to wrg Q as a gay character. Ben Whishaw admted an terview wh The Guardian that he was left unsatisfied by the revelatn “No Time to Die” that his recurrg Jam Bond character Q is a gay man.