Roger Moore, who played James Bond in
seven films between 1973 and 1985, said Sunday that 007 could never
be gay.
“I have heard people talk about how
there should be a lady Bond or a gay Bond. But they wouldn't be Bond
for the simple reason that wasn't what Ian Fleming wrote,” Moore
told the Daily
Mail in response to talk that Bond could be portrayed as gay
or played by a woman or a black actor.
“It is not about being homophobic or,
for that matter, racist – it is simply about being true to the
character,” Moore, 88, added.
Daniel Craig, who has said that
Spectre, out Friday, will be his final turn at the part,
disagreed with Moore in a Sky
News interview.
“Anything's possible,” Craig said.
“You can do anything as long as it's credible and it works. It
doesn't matter.”
In 2012, while promoting Skyfall,
Craig said that Bond “isn't gay.”
(Related: Daniel
Craig: James Bond is not gay.)