Naomie Harris is radiant in red on the cover of Cosmopolitan U.K.!
The 39-year-old actress, who will reprise her Skyfall role as Eve Moneypenny he upcoming James Bond movie Spectre, talks to the mag's November issue about a variety of women's issues—including whether she can be considered a feminist and a Bond girl.
"I think you absolutely can now," she says. "Sam [Mendes, director] loves strong, multidimensional women; that's incredibly important to him. Barbara Broccoli [daughter of original Bond producer Albert] is at the helm of the franchise too, and she's a strong woman who has a big say in how the characters are developed."
"You can see that in Spectre—Monica Bellucci's character is incredible feisty, and rejects Bond's help," she continues. "She's like 'I can do this on my own!'"
Offscreen, though, Naomie is well aware of the challenges women in Hollywood face. "It's very difficult to find roles as well-written as male ones, and with as much screen time," she admits. "Then there's one amazing script that sparks your imagination, and gets you really excited. They are there, it's just they're mostly dominated by male roles..."
Naomie tells Cosmopolitan U.K. she thinks "it's tougher for women in film" than it is for the fellas. She named Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon as female stars who "can consistently open movies," acknowledging, "There are women doing it, but yeah, it's harder."
Also challenging at times? The peer pressure Naomie faces to settle down! "I'm nearly 40, so lots of my friends are like, 'I have to get married and have a baby'; they're freaking out," she says. "I just think, 'What will be will be. Everyone tries to drag me in with them; it's almost like they're trying to scare me that I haven't ticked those boxes yet."
Naomie's full interview appears in the November 2015 issue of Cosmopolitan U.K., on sale Oct. 1. It's also available in digital edition on Apple Newsstand.