Profiling Eve Moneypenny

By the time Daniel Craig reached his third film, the 007 team thought it was time to reintroduce his support team of key allies. Alongside Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris joined the cast as Moneypenny. From the get-go, it became clear this was a very different interpretation of the iconic character.

Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall introduced Harris as Eve, a field agent on assignment with Bond (Daniel Craig) in Istanbul, Turkey. After Bond discovers and helps wounded MI6 operative Ronson, Eve picks up 007 in a Land Rover Defender and takes off in pursuit of mercenary Patrice (Ola Rapace), who is in possession of a stolen computer drive. A breakneck chase through narrow, crowded streets ensues, with Moneypenny displaying serious skills and nerve at the wheel.

Guided by Tanner (Rory Kinnear) and M (Judi Dench) on comms from London, Eve blocks Patrice on a bridge, opening fire on the mercenary only for him to jump off the bridge and onto a speeding train. Bond, of course, follows suit. 

On M’s orders, Eve takes off after the train. She eventually runs out of road, exits the car and takes aim with a rifle. M demands that Patrice be eliminated, but due to the frenetic fighting and constant movement, Eve can’t get a clear view. Exasperated with her lack of clarity, M bluntly orders Eve to “take the bloody shot”. Eve opens fire and ends up shooting Bond, resulting in his apparent death.

Returning home, Eve is reprimanded and suspended from fieldwork. But when Q (Ben Whishaw) refuses to rendezvous with a rejuvenated Bond in Macau due to a fear of flying, Eve steps in. In a playful interaction, she reveals vital intel about the release of names of undercover NATO agents from the decrypted drive, then gives a shirtless Bond a close shave with a traditional cut-throat razor (“Sometimes the old ways are the best,” she suggests). Eve later aids Bond during a fistfight, incapacitating one of the assailants by hitting him with a case full of money. Bond tells her to put the contents on red.

Eve is seconded to work with the Intelligence and Security Committee Chairman Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) during the transition between M’s ‘voluntary retirement’ and her unnamed successor’s arrival. When M’s Board of Inquiry comes under attack from cyber terrorist Silva (Javier Bardem), Eve returns fire in the gun battle, facilitating the escape of key government officials.

Following the death of M at Skyfall, Eve meets a reflective Bond staring at a sunrise and informs him she is unfit for fieldwork and will now be desk-bound, working as the executive assistant for the new M, Gareth Mallory. Before they part, Eve hands Bond a box containing M’s Union Jack bulldog as a hint that he should take a desk job. Bond reminds her they have never been formally introduced, and she reveals her full name is Eve Moneypenny.

Spectre (2015)

Following Bond’s return from Mexico, Moneypenny brings 007 a box of the personal effects recovered from Skyfall. She meets him at his sparse, undecorated home (“I like what you’ve done with the place,” she deadpans) and reveals he has been the talk of MI6 with his exploits in Mexico. Bond shows her a video message from M that reveals she instructed him to kill SPECTRE assassin Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona) and attend his funeral in Rome. 007 asks Moneypenny to do some quiet digging about a name he heard in Mexico: The Pale King. 

After Sciarra’s funeral in Rome, Bond gets embroiled in a high-speed car chase with SPECTRE heavy Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) and calls Moneypenny for the intel, seemingly piqued that she has a late-night guest. (“It’s called life, James. You should try it sometimes.”). She confirms The Pale King is actually QUANTUM operative Mr White (Jesper Christensen), whose last known location is Altaussee in Austria. 007 asks her to check on another name — Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Later in London, Moneypenny is part of the team alongside M and Tanner, who move to halt the launch of Max Denbigh’s (Andrew Scott) Nine Eyes program. 

No Time To Die (2021)

Moneypenny is now London-bound, helping M keep a lid on the break-in at the secret laboratory working on Project Heracles. She escorts Bond and Nomi (Lashana Lynch) towards M’s office (“I thought you two would get along”). As Bond enters, Nomi tells Moneypenny, “I get why you shot him.” She replies, “Everyone tries at least once.”

After Logan Ash kills Felix, Bond goes to M in London, demanding to be allowed to interrogate Blofeld in Belmarsh Prison. When M refuses, Moneypenny steps in to help Bond, taking him to Q’s house to decrypt a flash drive and backs 007 up when Q shows reticence to help. As the trio reveal the terrifying truths around the power of Heracles — nanobots capable of creating genocide on a massive scale — Moneypenny informs Bond that MI6 have been tracking leaks of DNA information across global databases. She later assists in helping Bond confront Blofeld, later being rebuked by M. 

As Bond infiltrates Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek)’s Poison Island, Moneypenny listens in as the Royal Navy missiles launched to destroy the island send 007 to his death. Later back in London, Moneypenny, along with M, Q, Tanner and Nomi, raises a glass to the memory of Bond, as M reads a poignant toast.

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”