Lashana Lynch made history as the first woman and person of color to be cast as 007.
Lashana Lynch is a British actress best known for playing the role of Rosaline Capulet in the ABC period drama series Still Star-Crossed. She was the first woman and person of color to be cast as 007. Lynch did a remarkable job as Nomi an MI6 agent and successor as 007. Although it was highly anticipated for there to be a female Bond in the next installment, with Lynch as the front-runner, the producers of the film have made it clear that the next Bond will also be a man. But it has been confirmed that she will still be a part of the next film.
Lashana has already left quite the impression with her memorable performances in not only the Bond film but her other roles as well, including her iconic role in Captain Marvel. She is the next best thing for sure and here are a few things you probably did not know about her.
Lashana is a part of the upcoming British drama film based upon her play of the same name directed by Debbie Tucker Green. When Lashana was on the stage play in London, Bond franchise producer Barbara Brocolli was the producer for the play as well. She asked her to audition for an unidentified project. She told Vogue, “I sent a tape in, and then I didn’t hear anything for months. Eventually, I got invited to a meeting and realized that it was definitely No Time to Die, but I still didn’t know whether I was being considered for a walk-on part or a lead character.”
Lashana made history by being cast as the first Black woman to play the successor of 007. But this was not the first time she took on a role that was usually played by a man. She even played Romeo and Juliet's Tybalt, Juliet’s first cousin, a role that is usually played by a White man. She said Tybalt was “screaming to be a black woman” and since Tybalt's race or gender is not actually explicitly mentioned, she decided to embody the character and make it her own.
In addition to being in Romeo and Juliet, Lashana has also been a part of other Shakespearean adaptations. The most notable one being, the role of Rosaline Capulet in Shonda Rhimes' Still Star-Crossed, which is about the events that occur after the death of Romeo and Juliet. The show is based on the book of the same name by Melinda Taub. Other than Shakespearean roles, she also played Pinocchio in a school play.
Lashana decided in primary school that she wanted to act. She started taking part in all the school plays and then enrolled at the Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick. She grew up watching The Little Mermaid and in an interview with GQ explained the impact it had on her, "I found it fascinating that you can take a little cartoon or a little animal and give them human-sequence features and suddenly I'm drawn into the story."
Lashana said that she has tried out for many roles, big and small including Black Panther, Venom, even an Avengers film. It has always been a goal of hers to act in a Marvel film and she has already achieved the goal. She landed the role of Maria Rambeau in the film Captain Marvel. Her memorable role as one of Carol Danvers' oldest friends and a fellow Air Force pilot who goes by the call sign "Photon" stayed with fans of MCU who were all praise for Lashana.
Before she landed the role of 007 on No Time To Die, Lashana had an opportunity to play a spy in a TV show. In 2018, she joined the cast of the pilot episode of FX's Y: The Last Man as Agent 355, a pivotal character who helps protect Yorick Brown, the last surviving man on Earth. But was replaced by Ashley Romans in the main series.
Lashana knows that acting is challenging and spends a lot of time at the gym. She practices yoga, sometimes runs two miles, meditates, and pays a lot of attention to mental health. She is spiritual, burns sage, and also believes in the power of healing crystals. "Our mental health needs our care and attention immediately. Find your favorite way to release. Write, sing, workout, draw, shout, call a friend. Empower someone you haven’t spoken to in a while in the way you know best. Cry together, plan together. Do what you can. Don't be fooled, I thought I'd be able to bring out all the spiritual apparatus today and meditate away my morning," she stated.
Before starting her acting career, Lashana wanted to be a singer. She even writes her own songs and describes her music as "soul with a fusion of soul, jazz and experimental." Teasing the release of an EP she said, "I write the lyrics and I meet with guitarists, pianists, and drummers. I find that best represents my music, I don't like artificial sounds. So yeah, hopefully, more to come soon!"
Before the pandemic restricted travel, Lashana seems to have been quite the globe trotter. She has visited wonderful countries including Mexico, Thailand, and Spain as per her Instagram. But even in lockdown, Lashana found a way to be out in nature. "I was having conversations with nature, saying, 'I was here a week ago and you were just a baby. Look at you, growing,'" Lynch shared. She used the lockdown as an opportunity to reflect and spend some quality time with herself.
When asked if she would like to take over as the next James Bond she said, “I don’t know,” and added, “It would depend on a lot of things. Nomi represents one thing in this movie, but if she was going to represent more down the line, I would want to talk about the black female experience to the high heavens, and I don’t know if people are ready for that.” Explaining why the producers included her as the 007 successor she explained, “‘Bond is an older white guy who has a certain opinion of the world and who maybe hasn’t had an experience of black women in this capacity. Then this black woman comes along and teaches him things.’ It blew my mind that Barbara was ready to say that so frankly, and was willing to insert that kind of relationship into a Bond film.”
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