007 stamp of approval: Sydney Sweeney hailed as “a wonderful Bond girl”
A Bond veteran waded into the 007 casting debate with a take on Sydney Sweeney’s possible place in the next film — the kind that kicks up whispers.
Breaking a bit of 007 history back into the chat, Trina Parks — the franchise ’s first Black Bond woman, who played the acrobatic assassin Thumper in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971 — just threw her support behind Sydney Sweeney for the next Bond leading lady. In a new interview with The Telegraph, Parks praised Sweeney’s range and old‑school Hollywood poise that she thinks fits right into the Bond world.
“Sydney would do a wonderful job,”
Parks went further than looks and aura. She argued the modern films need women with real agency and control over their sexuality — partners who can hold their ground opposite 007 — and said the franchise’s more outdated romantic formula belongs in the past. Coming from a trailblazer who traded blows with Sean Connery ’s Bond, that endorsement lands with extra weight.
The 007 rumor mill
As speculation swirls, Amazon MGM continues to shepherd the next Bond era. The Telegraph reports Denis Villeneuve is in the mix to direct and that casting director Nina Gold is weighing options for the female lead. A rumored shortlist alongside Sweeney includes:
- Zendaya
- Margaret Qualley
- Michelle Randolph
- Nathalie Emmanuel
None of this is confirmed: Amazon MGM hasn’t announced a female lead, and the franchise still hasn’t named its post–Daniel Craig 007.
Sweeney’s next move
While the Bond guessing game continues, Sweeney is already leading The Custom of the Country, adapted from Edith Wharton’s 1913 novel. She plays Undine Spragg, a fiercely ambitious Midwesterner who claws her way into New York high society, leaving romantic and social wreckage in her wake. Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots) wrote and directs, and Sweeney is also a producer.
The ensemble features:
- Leo Woodall
- Dominic West
- Matthew Goode
- Rose Leslie
- Martha Plimpton
- Miranda Richardson
- Hugh Dancy
- Louis Garrel
- Ian Hart
Backed by Studiocanal and Charles Finch’s Rabbit’s Foot Films, the production began filming in Portugal in March 2026 and has moved into post. A 2027 release is expected, but no official date has been announced.