The age-old criticism of Bond films is that they objectify women. But according to the franchise's female star, the real sex object is 007 himself.
Lea Seydoux, who plays Dr Madeleine Swann in Spectre and returns later this year in No Time To Die, said female viewers love to see Daniel Craig with his shirt off.
"I think what we forget is that James Bond is also a sexual object. He's totally a sexual object. He's one of the few, maybe one of the only, male characters to be sexualised," Seydoux said. "I think that women, they love to see Bond, no? To see his body. No? Don't you think? I love to see sexy men in bathing suits."
One of the defining images of Craig's Bond was the Casino Royale scene in which he emerged from the sea in a pair of swimming trunks, a pastiche of the Ursula Andress scene in Dr No.
![Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) talks to James Bond (Daniel Craig) in Spectre. Photo / File](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/O4O2OSMHC6THLI5FTZ2X5VVNMA.jpg?auth=23d2a8ced39c542a865209e8eb4cfaa817b2fc53aab4a7333cbf190697e3e8a8&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)