Debbie McWilliams and the Elusive Role of the Casting Director in the Bond Franchise

Abstract

Who will be the next 007, villain or ‘Bond girl’ remains a perennial topic of lively discussion. Yet the casting of Bond films as a professional process is not well understood. This is illustrated well by our relative lack of knowledge about one of the longest standing women behind James Bond, Debbie McWilliams, who has been the casting director of the Bond franchise since the early 1980s. Putting McWilliams at the centre of the casting discussion moves it away from the business of substituting one actor for another towards the day-to-day work of the casting department, where auditioning and selecting of actors represents just a small part of the job. Drawing on interviews and production histories, this article argues that the longevity and global scale of the Bond series has shaped the casting profession in important ways that have been overlooked.