The name’s Lynch. Lashana Lynch.
British actress Lashana Lynch has been reportedly cast as the new 007. Bond himself will still be played by Daniel Craig, and Lynch’s character Nomi will be introduced with Bond’s secret agent number after he retires from MI6, according to The Daily Mail. She makes cinematic history as the first black actress to adopt the 007 code name.
“It’s a popcorn-dropping moment. Bond is still Bond but he’s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman,” a source told the Daily Mail.
Lynch’s performance is expected to modernize a franchise criticized for its dated and sexist tropes.
But who is Lashana Lynch? Many may recognize her from her recent performance in “Captain Marvel,” but the 31-year-old has an impressive resume.
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1. She is a star of stage, television and film
Lashana Lynch Getty Images Lynch is a seasoned actress, having performed in live theater, television and film. She got her start in television on the long-running British police drama, “The Bill,” in 2007 and went on to star in Shonda Rhimes’ ABC period piece, “Still Star-Crossed,” in 2016. She made her film debut in the 2012 drama “Fast Girls,” before starring in “Brotherhood” in 2016. She has also racked up several theater credits, including roles in “Dog Days,” “Romeo & Juliet” and “Some Like It Hip Hop.”
She is best known for her performance in “Captain Marvel,” where she played fighter pilot Maria Rambeau alongside Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers.
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2. Her "Captain America" audition made the director cry
Lashana Lynch Getty Images According to Empire Online, Lynch’s audition stood out to filmmakers right away. “When she auditioned for the part she read with Brie, and literally made me cry during her audition,” director Ryan Fleck said. “It takes a lot to make me cry, and I was hiding in the corner trying to wipe my eyes … I talked to her about it later on, and she said, ‘You know what? Even if I didn’t get it, that felt good.'”
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3. She auditioned for "Black Panther" and "Spiderman: Homecoming," but didn't land the job
Lashana Lynch Getty Images Lynch unfortunately didn’t make the cut for either of the popular Marvel films, but her goal of working within the Marvel Cinematic Universe came true days after her screen test with Larson. Her presence as a woman of color in the MCU is still important to her, regardless of the movie she was ultimately cast in.
“Just being a black character right after ‘Black Panther,’ they have so much scope that they could have done anything, Maria didn’t necessarily have to be there,” she told BET. “They could have put Monica in down the line. I had a conversation with the directors at the beginning about the [black community]. Marvel had a great opportunity to bring the black community here. And showing a black single mother raising a queen was important.”
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4. She is a singer as well as an actress
Lashana Lynch Getty Images Lynch received classic theater training from the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. “I sang before I acted. I sang when I was in primary school and I did singing at Sylvia Young — no acting at all,” she told Afridiziak Theatre News in 2014. “But it was my singing teacher, Ray, who said, ‘You can’t not act when you sing, the two come hand in hand.’ So I took up acting during my GCSEs and that’s led on to me going to drama school.”
In the same interview, she added that she also wrote her own music. “It’s a fusion of soul, jazz and experimental. It’s a soul vibe really,” she said. “Usually 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.”
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5. She is a graduate of the Arts Education Schools in London
Lynch received her BA in acting from the Arts Education drama school in London in 2013. She graduated first class with honors, she wrote on Instagram.
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6. She was raised in a single-parent household
In an interview with BET, Lynch spoke about her role in “Captain Marvel” as a working single mother and how in preparation for her role she drew upon own upbringing with her Jamaican mom. “To play a single mother in the MCU, I think, is really special for audiences both young and old who don’t see that extended on screen,” she said. “Couple that with being a fighter pilot, they are also superheroes. She’s able to live her best life both emotionally and physically in the movie, and I think that the creators have made a nice balance for someone who doesn’t have the typical superpowers in that she is injected with power from within and is able to use that and pass that down to her daughter, Monica.”