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Sean Connery's James Bond 'basically rapes a woman,' says 'No Time to Die' director

A picture of Sean Connery as 007.
Sean Connery as 007. Bob Penn/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
  • Cary Fukunaga said Sean Connery's older version of James Bond "basically" raped a woman.

  • Fukunaga referenced a scene in the 1965 Bond film "Thunderball."

  • In the scene, Connery's Bond forces himself on a nurse.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The director of the latest James Bond movie has said that Sean Connery's version of the character "basically rapes a woman" in one of the franchise's earlier films.

Cary Fukunaga - who helmed the upcoming "No Time to Die" - made the claim during a profile with The Hollywood Reporter in which he referenced a scene in the 1965 bond film "Thunderball" where Connery's Bond meets a nurse played by Molly Peters and forcibly kisses her when she rejects his advances.

And in a later scene, Connery's Bond suggests that he will not disclose information about Peters's character that could cost her her job if she sleeps with him. "I suppose my silence could have a price," he says.

Speaking about the scene, Fukunaga said: "Is it 'Thunderball' or 'Goldfinger' where, like, basically Sean Connery's character rapes a woman? She's like 'No, no, no,' and he's like, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"

Fukunaga later adds that a scene like that "wouldn't fly today."

A picture of Sean Connery and Shirley Eaton in "Goldfinger."
Sean Connery and Shirley Eaton in "Goldfinger." MGM.

While speaking about the evolution of the Bond character, film producer Barbara Broccoli, who has worked on every Bond film since 1995, including Fukunaga's latest, said: "I think people are coming around - with some kicking and screaming - to accepting that stuff is no longer acceptable. Thank goodness. Bond is a character who was written in 1952, and the first film [Dr No] came out in 1962."

She added: "He's got a long history, and the history of the past is very different to the way he is being portrayed now."

Sean Connery - who died late last year at the age of 90 - was the first actor to portray the fictional secret agent 007 on film. He starred in seven Bond films making his last outing in 1983's "Never Say Never Again."

Cary Fukunaga's "No Time to Die" is also set to be Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond. Craig's replacement has yet to be announced and it has not been reported whether Fukunaga will return to direct another film in the series. However, the 44-year-old director told THR that with "No Time to Die" he has done his part to help push the character of 007 forward.

"You can't change Bond overnight into a different person," he's said. "But you can definitely change the world around him and the way he has to function in that world."

"No Time to Die" debut in UK theaters on 30 September 2021 and in the US on 8 October.

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