Saoirse Ronan has practically earned a PhD in the art of being gloriously difficult while growing up on screen. From Lady Bird to Little Women, she has made rebellious young women her specialty, playing characters who rename themselves, reject expectations, chase independence, and occasionally launch themselves from moving cars. And unsurprisingly, they have become some of the defining dramatic roles of a career already packed with powerhouse performances.

It turns out Saoirse Ronan may be ready to add another deliciously dramatic role to her résumé, but not as a rebellious teenager, but as a Bond villain.

“I want to go dark,” Saoirse Ronan says, which sounds less like a career announcement and more like the moment a Bond villain discovers dramatic lighting. The actress has openly set her sights on becoming a James Bond antagonist, and with Amazon MGM Studios yet to reveal the next 007 or his nemesis, her wicked little wish is hardly impossible.

“I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain and I’m dead serious,” Ronan told Empire. Her pitch is particularly intriguing because she wants to explore a young female villain capable of turning pent-up anger into something deliciously destructive. Considering the emotional force Ronan routinely brings to dramatic roles, James Bond may want to start checking the exits.

Should the opportunity that she told Empire Magazine about arrive, Ronan would be entering a particularly glamorous rogues' gallery. Sophie Marceau made Elektra King an elegant mastermind in The World Is Not Enough, while Lotte Lenya made Rosa Klebb terrifyingly memorable in From Russia with Love. Ronan would have formidable predecessors, but she could bring her own brand of beautifully controlled menace to the franchise. Her pitch seems even more interesting considering that her husband is one of the actors rumored to be the next James Bond.

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And unsurprisingly, Saoirse Ronan has already built the sort of résumé that could make her a very convincing Bond villain, despite her reputation as cinema’s rebellious coming-of-age queen. 

Saoirse Ronan already has a résumé that looks suspiciously well prepared for Bond villainy. Hanna gave the four-time Academy Award nominee serious action credentials, with Ronan undergoing hours of gym and martial arts training each day at just 15 and tackling demanding fight choreography, a quality that Eric Bana has praised her for. Talking about her age, let us not forget how she played such a complex character in Atonement at the age of 12, and some would agree that would easily prove why she would be great as a Bond villain.

The psychological side is equally convincing. The Outrun showcased Ronan’s ability to make volatile, destructive emotions feel painfully human, while Bad Apples pushed that darker energy toward genuinely unsettling territory. Her instinctive command of the camera, shaped partly through her work with Joe Wright, adds another weapon to the arsenal. Put it all together, and Ronan has rather conveniently assembled the skills to make a Bond villain seriously formidable.

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Do you think Saoirse Ronan would do a good job as a Bond villain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!