John Krasinski backs wife Emily Blunt to play Bond: ‘I would love to see her do it’

Emily Blunt husband today backed his wife to be the first female 007, saying she would be “an amazing Bond”.

Actor John Krasinski praised his “heroic” wife and said the time was ripe to give the role to a woman when Daniel Craig retires. Bookies are quoting 12/1 on the next Bond being female, with the odds on Blunt, 35, at 40/1, behind favourites Tom Hardy and James Norton.

Krasinski, 38, told the Evening Standard: “I think a woman Bond would be amazing ... They just did it on Doctor Who and people went ballistic [with excitement].

"Emily would be an amazing Bond. Would she do it? I don’t know. But I would love to see her do it. I love to see her do anything, but the Bond franchise for me is so [great].”

Blunt made her name in The Devil Wears Prada and The Young Victoria, before taking on action roles in films including Sicario and Edge Of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise.

For the latter she got into shape working out six days a week with a mixture of Krav Maga martial arts training, sprint training, gymnastics, yoga and weight training.

Krasinski co-starred with his wife in horror film A Quiet Place, which was also his directorial debut. In it Blunt plays a pregnant mother who has to give birth in silence to prevent her children being killed by aliens.

Krasinski said complex female characters were key to his work. “All my stuff is all these strong women. I hadn’t thought about it, and I remember Emily said ‘what I love about it is the fact that you don’t know, because that means it is so inherently you’.

"Female empowerment is vital, it’s a must, it’s not a thing you’ve got to be aware of, it’s an obvious must. Women are as heroic — and in my case much more heroic — than men, so I love doing it [creating those characters].”

Blunt is his “favourite actress” and he hopes to work with her again. Krasinski, who rose to fame in the US version of The Office, said: “I would do everything with Emily. She was just so incredibly supportive with the script and had ideas of how to shoot, and on set with such a great energy. She is the best person to work with.”

The actor will play an action hero himself as Jack Ryan in a new TV version of the Tom Clancy blockbuster.

“Jack Ryan is basically James Bond for America except less sex ,” he said.

Jack Ryan will air on Amazon Prime Video on August 31