Mark Rylance: I’ll Play A Bond Villain But Only if 007 is a Woman

He’s won acting plaudits for his extensive Shakespearean stage work, playing Thomas Cromwell in TV’s ‘Wolf Hall’, and now revered thespian Mark Rylance has his sights set on conquering cinema too.

He’s appearing alongside Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Ray Winstone and Idris Elba in new action thriller ‘The Gunman' - in cinemas on 20 March - and he's got two films with Steven Spielberg in the pipeline too, but one coveted role that eludes him is that of a Bond villain.

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However, if you watch our video above, he has one curious proviso before he’ll commit to playing a bad guy opposite 007.

Above: Rylance as the scheming Thomas Cromwell in the BBC’s ‘Wolf Hall’

"Someone was talking to me last night [about playing a Bond villain’]," Rylance explains, "and I was thinking, what sort of Bond villain could I be? The idea I came up with is so evil, I can’t even mention it you! You’d have to study all the other Bond villains and find a new angle."

"I hope Idris Elba will be a Bond, but you know who would be really cool? If a woman was [Bond], Jane Bond. Then I’d be the villain!"

Above: Sean Penn and Mark Rylance in ‘The Gunman’

We can’t help but think that Rylance could be on to something here, but if audiences are finding it hard to consider Idris Elba as a black Bond, we think they’d have a tougher time coming to terms with a female Bond.

Now, Rylance himself as Bond? That’s an idea we could get behind…

'The Gunman' is in cinemas from Friday, 20 March. Watch a trailer below.

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Image credits: Studiocanal/BBC