Indiana Jones 5, in which she plays Indy’s goddaughter Helena, isn’t the first time that Phoebe Waller-Bridge has joined an iconic action/adventure franchise that concludes the legend of an aging hero. Although she didn’t appear on screen, the actress/writer contributed to the script for 2021’s epic 25th 007 film No Time To Die, which marked Daniel Craig‘s final outing as James Bond.
Although it’s believed that Craig was the one to bring her aboard in the first place, in order to revitalize the screenplay, Waller-Bridge has now revealed that she initially had some creative differences with both Craig and producers over the depiction of the super-spy’s character.
During a talk at London’s Haymarket Theatre (via DailyMail), the Fleabag creator admitted that she didn’t have enough of a grasp on Bond’s personality at first because she didn’t do her homework.
“I’m not very good at homework. That says a lot,” Waller-Bridge explained. “Sometimes it is frustrating when you say, ‘I think this is genius,’ and they are like, ‘Next time.'”
Waller-Bridge went on to recall that her initial pitches for the movie were turned down because her ideas were too “camp” and even too “misogynistic,” something that definitely didn’t gel with Craig’s vision for the role that he’d played since 2006’s Casino Royale. As she put it:
“It is fun playing in someone else’s sandpit for a while as you learn stuff. I certainly learned what my Bond film would be like. I learned how mine might have been slightly too camp. A bit misogynistic really. Daniel (Craig) knows that character better than anyone.”
Whatever its faults, NTTD arguably portrayed the most emotionally mature and fully evolved version of Bond we’ve ever seen on film, what with the character declaring his love for Madeline (Lea Seydoux), becoming a father to Mathilde, and then sacrificing himself to save both his family and the whole world. Waller-Bridge’s take may have been more in line with prior 007s, then, but Craig was clearly keen to move things forward with his last outing in the part.
But, who knows, maybe Waller-Bridge could get to deliver her notion of what a Bond film should be like next time around, once the next incarnation of the immortal secret agent is finally announced to the world.
