Give her a lair already — Saoirse Ronan is 'dead serious' about playing a Bond villain

Every time the rumour mill fires up about the next James Bond, we get the usual parade of potential 007s and a lot of hand-wringing about which bloke fits the tux best. But Saoirse Ronan, of all people, is eyeing a totally different side of the equation: she wants to be the one making Bond's life hell. She's not dropping hints for a martini at the casino table—she wants to go full villain.

Saoirse Ronan told Empire, while promoting Jonatan Etzler's Bad Apples: "I think it would be really interesting, having a young female villain. Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere, there's something interesting in that dramatically. So I would love to do more of that."

She hasn't been shy about it, either. Apparently, Ronan is "dead serious" about taking on Bond—at the same time as her actual husband, Jack Lowden, is being whispered about for the new 007. It's a weirdly neat situation: if the stars aligned, Lowden could be facing off with his real-life partner on the big screen. That would be a properly unique spin, even by Bond standards.

The Line-Up for Bond

Of course, Ronan's villain dreams arrive at a time when Amazon MGM Studios is still dragging its feet on picking the next Bond. The names in the game are so familiar you could recite them in your sleep by now:

• Callum Turner
• Jacob Elordi
• Tom Holland
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson
• Harris Dickinson
• And yes, Jack Lowden is in the mix—better known at the minute for his turn in Slow Horses.

Debbie McWilliams, the Bond casting director, said at Karlovy Vary: "Part of his job description is licensed to kill. So you've got to think that he could pick a gun up and shoot you."

McWilliams, who's been picking her Bonds for fourteen films and counting, reckons you can't have a 007 who doesn't look properly threatening. She pointed out that Brosnan, suave as he was, didn't quite have that edge: all charm, not enough menace. Daniel Craig, on the other hand, brought the bruiser energy that probably still gives some viewers nightmares.

Why It's Actually Fairly Genius

Getting a proper actor like Ronan to play the next big Bond villain would actually be a smart twist for Amazon, assuming they want to update the formula a little. There's no shortage of online pundits ready to complain, of course, but frankly, if she delivers alongside the likes of Rami Malek, Christoph Waltz, or Javier Bardem, that noise will die down soon enough.