Ben Whishaw says his James Bond's character's coming out was “unsatisfying”.
Ben Whishaw didn't like his James Bond same-sex dating plotine
The 41-year-old actor's alter ego Q was revealed to be gay in 'No Time To Die' when James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) interrupted him preparing for a date and he casually referenced the fact it was a man he was waiting to meet.
And though Ben thought about questioning the fleeting reference, he ultimately “accepted this was what was written”.
He told The Guardian newspaper: “I think I thought, ‘Are we doing this, and then doing nothing with it?' I remember, perhaps, feeling that was unsatisfying.
“I’m very happy to admit maybe some things were not great about that [creative] decision.”
However, Ben insisted he didn't think making Q gay had been "forced" on producers to boost diversity.
He added: “I suppose I don’t feel it was forced upon the studio. That was not my impression of how this came about. I think it came from a good place.”
“For whatever reason, I didn’t pick it apart with anybody on the film. Maybe on another kind of project, I would have done? But it’s a very big machine. I thought a lot about whether I should question it. Finally, I didn’t. I accepted this was what was written. And I said the lines. And it is what it is.”
The ‘Danish Girl’ star believes his co-star Eddie Redmayne did a “beautiful job” playing transgender artist Lili Elbe but thinks moving forward, trans roles should be given to “someone who lived that experience."
However, he accepts not everyone would agree and welcomes debate around the issue.
He said: “I think Eddie did a beautiful job. And it’s done. Going forward, there will be other films in which the role is given to someone who lived that experience. Why shouldn’t a role like that be given to someone who knows, inside, what the character is? I’m all for that.
“I just feel that we can end up arguing over these black-and-white things and get extremely polarised over these questions when I don’t think it needs to be that way. Have a discussion. There can be disagreement. There can be different points of view!”
Tagged in Ben Whishaw Daniel Craig James Bond