Lashana Lynch, the actress hotly anticipated to be the first female James Bond, brought the house down at Essence’s starry Black Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony.
The Brit, who starred as Maria Rambeau in “Captain Marvel,” is shaking and stirring up the Bond legacy as 00 agent Nomi in “No Time to Die,” out in April. The movie is Daniel Craig’s last as 007 — with fans pointing to Lynch as the heir apparent.
Picking up the first award at the Beverly Hills bash Thursday, Lynch described herself as “a dark-skinned, working-class young woman from East London who proudly comes from an immigrant family and wears her heart on her sleeve.” She paid an emotional tribute to her mom, a single mother who worked two jobs to bring her and her two siblings up, with the help of her grandmother.
Lynch said, “I grew up in a very traditional Jamaican household … I remember being hyper-aware of my blackness from a very young age because of it,” she said. “I recall being in ballet class at a very young age, and having a white teacher tell me to tuck in my backside, and I proceeded to explain why mine just doesn’t go in like everyone else.”
She added, “So then I told my mom I wanted to leave … at that young age, because of the black women that raised me, I was confidently able to leave a space that didn’t celebrate me. And now here I am in this room being able to celebrate my skin, my hair and my [backside].”
And speaking to her mother, who was sitting in the crowd, she said of her “Captain Marvel” role, “That character was a love letter to you and hundreds and thousands of single black mothers who go above and beyond to raise their kids … So to you, and all the wonderful black women here today, you have truly lifted me up and you have paved the way … The true essence of humanity lies in the sacrifice of black women,” she added, before the 007 theme played her out.