James Bond character 'has to be a guy,' admits self-identifying feminist Helen Mirren

British actress Helen Mirren admitted on Monday that the next actor who plays James Bond "has to be a guy," amid a debate over whether the iconic spy character should get a fresh look.

In a conversation with Saga Magazine discussing her new film where she portrays a retired spy, Mirren said that even though she is a feminist, the actor who plays Bond should remain a man. 

Asked by Saga whether her character in "The Thursday Murder Club" is a "better portrayal of it than in the world of 007," Mirren said it is "more realistic. But not so much fun as Bond!"

"I'm such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy," Mirren said. "You can't have a woman. It just doesn't work."

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James Bond's new owner, Amazon MGM, is reportedly working on a "fresh, exotic new" Bond, and some fans are concerned about what that could mean.

But even as a feminist, Mirren said she believes whoever plays the character can't be a woman. 

"James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else," she said. 

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Mirren had previously said that she did not want a female James Bond because she "never liked" the character, and said it was "born out of profound sexism."

"The whole series of James Bond, it was not my thing. It really wasn't," Mirren told The Standard in an article published in March, after being asked about Amazon MGM Studios getting creative control of the British spy film franchise.

"I never liked James Bond. I never liked the way women were in James Bond," she added. 

Some of the names being floated to be the new Bond include Idris Elba, James Norton, Theo James, Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, although Elba has reportedly removed himself from consideration, according to GQ Magazine.