Dame Helen Mirren thinks she’s "too old" to be a female James Bond.
The 72-year-old actress has admitted she would have relished the role in her younger years, but she no longer considers herself to be suited to the part of 007.
Dame Helen said: "I’m too old. In my youth, that would have been great of course.
"But that time was different; we could never even have imagined a woman playing that role."
The Academy Award-winning actress has enjoyed a career full of major successes.
But Dame Helen believes she should have really been a "struggling artist", given her modest upbringing.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, she explained: "Of course, it’s wonderful to have success, and the thing I love most about it is economic freedom.
"Coming from a background where there was no money – and if you didn’t work, there was nothing to live on – to have bought my own house and to have never been in debt or on welfare is something I feel proud of.
"But there’s a part of me that thinks I should have been a struggling artist."
This comes shortly after former Bond girl Halle Berry said that the iconic secret agent is "steeped in history" and should always be played by a man.
The 50-year-old star – who appeared in ‘Die Another Day’ in 2002 – reflected: "I want women to be tough but I don’t know if Bond should be a woman. I mean, that series is steeped in history, you know from Ian Fleming’s stories. I don’t think you can change Bond to a woman.
"We can create a new Bond character that’s a woman, and give her a new name, based on that theory, but I don’t know if Bond should be a woman."
Helen Mirren says she’s too old for Bond role
