007 has to be a man! And attractive...unlike that Daniel Craig

EXCLUSIVE: BOND GIRL MADELINE SMITH

- Peter Robertson

FIFTY years on from playing a Bond Girl in the 1973 classic Live And Let Die, English actress Madeline Smith insists 007 should never be played by a woman.

Madeline, who as Italian agent Miss Caruso famously had the zip on her tight blue dress pulled down by Bond's magnetic watch, insists the films should stay true to Ian Fleming's novels, including the gender of the main character.

Still acting at 74, Madeline says: "I don't think Bond should be a woman. Definitely not." The probability of the next Bond being female rose following the most recent film in the franchise, No Time To Die, in 2021.

Because Bond quit, female agent Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch, was assigned 007. But Madeline says: "They need to go back to the beginning with those books and remake a couple of the films. Most of them are perfect." And on the decision to kill off Bond, she adds: "Anything to get bums on seats, but the idea didn't appeal to me at all. But like Sherlock Holmes it's just a ruse, another catch, and of course he didn't really die - he will be reincarnated."

On Daniel Craig's successor, Madeleine says: "Once upon a time I would have said Hugh Jackman. I fear he may be getting a little too mature, but he'd be my ideal.

"I think Daniel Craig is a fantastic actor and I love watching him, but not as Bond.