Why Nomi From No Time To Die Looks So Familiar
It's no big secret that the latest addition to the legendary James Bond franchise, No Time to Die, will be Daniel Craig's last outing as the suave super-spy. Thankfully for fans (and the citizens of Great Britain), MI6 has already recruited a new agent to bring the malevolent forces of the world to heel — the fresh and formidable Nomi.
The new agent works alongside Bond in the upcoming film, and thanks to the trailer, we've already got a look at British actress Lashana Lynch in the role. It's never easy joining an iconic franchise so late in the game, and in Lynch's case, she also potentially has to also carry the weight of a huge historic moment on her shoulders: The rumors still haven't been confirmed, but early reports about No Time to Die suggested that in addition to being Craig's swan song as 007, he'll also be passing the baton to Lynch, who will be the new 007.
If that is the case, then fans need not worry, because the 007 role will be in good hands. Lynch has already proven herself a more than capable actress, and action movie star, in her pre-No Time to Die roles. In fact, it's very likely you're already familiar with her work.
Lashana Lynch's career had a brief stop in Shondaland
James Bond is far from the first time Lynch has joined a powerful showbusiness institution. In 2017, the actress got herself a ticket to Shondaland, when she starred in the TV super-producer's historic drama series Still Star-Crossed. Based on the book of the same name by Melinda Taub, the show was a follow-up to Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. It picks up right after the deaths of the titular lovers, and follows the turmoil their doomed affair causes their feuding families.
Lynch played Rosaline Capulet, Juliet's cousin, who was mentioned in the original play, but never actually appears on stage. Although the 21st century actress had to step into the shoes of a 16th century woman, Lynch didn't reach too far back in time to find inspiration for the character, as she told BUILD Series: "I come from a very strong-willed family, I've got a lot of strong women in my family. My mum's very bold, unapologetic — will say it as it is. And that's exactly how [Rosaline] is. She's like taking someone today, and plomping her in the 16th century."
Sadly, just like Romeo and Juliet's love, Still Star-Crossed wasn't fated to last. The series was canceled after just one season.
Lashana Lynch had to be recast in Bulletproof
For her next big TV role, Lynch stayed in the current century.
Bulletproof is a British action-comedy series about two childhood friends who work as detectives for the National Crime Agency (aka the British FBI). Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters star as Bish and Ronnie, who are charged with working to unravel London's organized crime world. While the task at hand is quite serious, Bish and Ronnie find more than a little time for some buddy-cop style humor along the way. In the show's first season, Lynch played Arjana Pike, Ronnie's wife. But just like Still Star-Crossed, this proved to be a one season gig for Lynch, who was recast in the second season. As Ashley Walters explained to Metro, Lynch's departure had nothing to do with her work on the show, and everything to do with work she was getting elsewhere: "She wanted to come back. We wanted her back, but it just didn't work out with the timings. Obviously she's doing some major stuff at the moment, so it was as simple as that."
That major stuff in question included not only her newest role in the latest 007 film, but also appearing in a massive Marvel blockbuster.
Lashana Lynch joined the MCU in Captain Marvel
Even if Lynch didn't have No Time to Die on the horizon, she'd still be well on the path to superstardom, thanks to her performance in Captain Marvel. She plays Maria Rambeau, a longtime friend of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), and a fellow Air Force pilot. Maria is also the mother of Monica Rambeau, who is a child in the 1990s set movie — but as Marvel Comics fans know, will grow up to be a superhero in her own right.
The friendship between Carol and Maria is integral to Captain Marvel. According to Lynch, centering the female friendship felt both a refreshing change of pace, and like the most natural thing in the world. During an interview with Screen Rant she was asked about how she and Larson developed their relationship in the movie, and she responded, "It's real, it literally is just a real friendship, we didn't have to like labor anything, or work really hard to like create this perfect friendship on screen. We were just representing how women support each other [...] It's nice to represent love in a friendship, as opposed to relying on romantic love."
If the rumors about Lashana Lynch's role in No Time to Die are to be believed, then she certainly has some big shoes to fill. And based on her career thus far, she is more than able to fill them.