‘No Time to Die’ Director Cary Fukunaga Points Out Sean Connery’s James Bond ‘Basically Rapes a Woman’ in 1965 Film

No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga said the Sean Connery-portrayed version of the long-running character “basically rapes a woman.”

Addressing the history of the cinematic take on the Ian Fleming-created character in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the True Detective alum referenced a scene from an earlier franchise entry in which Bond forced himself on a woman.

“Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where, like, basically Sean Connery’s character rapes a woman?” Fukunaga said. “She’s like ‘No, no, no,’ and he’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ That wouldn’t fly today.”

Seemingly, Fukunaga—who enlisted Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the new Bond film’s script—was referencing a moment in 1965’s Thunderball where Connery’s Bond forces a kiss on a character portrayed by Molly Peters.

Later in the same film, Bond suggests to Peters’ character that he can help her keep a secret if she engages in a sexual activity with him. Bond is then suggested to have removed the character’s clothes.