Saoirse Ronan Says She Wants to Be Bond’s Next Villain

Imagine a Bond scene—glass shimmer, a long corridor, and a villain who redraws the rules. Saoirse Ronan wants to be that villain.

Speaking with Empire while promoting her new film Bad Apples, Ronan didn’t mince words. She said she wants to sink her teeth into darker roles and openly admitted, 'I want to be a Bond villain,' adding that she means it. Young. Female. Dangerous. The kind of antagonist who channels a lifetime of simmering anger into something electrifying on screen.

Behind the scenes, Amazon MGM and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman are said to be heavily involved in casting decisions for Bond 26. Casting conversations are under way. Rumor and ambition meet in the same room. Ronan, evidently, has already started making her case.

Is the franchise ready to swing the spotlight toward a younger, more modern adversary? Fans of the recent 007: First Light game have been pushing for a fresher take on Bond—one that could shift the series away from the hard-edged Daniel Craig era—and a new kind of villain might be the linchpin for that reinvention.

Ronan isn’t an unlikely candidate. Remember Hanna, Joe Wright’s lean, lethal thriller? She played a trained teenager with surprising physicality and a knack for fight choreography. She can move. She can stare down a camera. Casting her opposite Bond would feel like a promise that stakes have been raised.

Bad Apples will be distributed by Republic Pictures, a Paramount subsidiary, and lands in UK and US cinemas on September 18, 2026. Expect the publicity tour to bring more headlines—and more audition-room whispers—about where Ronan fits into Bond's next chapter.

She’s not joking: Ronan wants the role and she’s building momentum for it.

Would a younger, female villain be the jolt the 007 franchise needs? It’s a question worth arguing about over the next casting announcements—and over a ticket when Bad Apples opens.