{"id":391932,"date":"2026-01-06T22:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391932\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T22:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:35:08","slug":"007-first-light-costar-lenny-kravitz-discusses-his-love-of-james-bond-movies-ahead-of-his-video-game-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391932\/","title":{"rendered":"007: First Light Costar Lenny Kravitz Discusses His Love of James Bond Movies Ahead of His Video Game Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, IO Interactive revealed that musician and singer Lenny Kravitz would be making his video game debut in 007: First Light \u2013 not as the singer of a film-like Bond Theme, but as an actual character in the game. Cast as Bawma, a charismatic pirate king with a mysterious edge, Kravitz’s video game debut promises action, intrigue, and a dash of rockstar theatrics. I had the opportunity to speak with him about his role in the game, his decades-long love for the Bond films, and to try to glean a little bit more about his character\u2019s role in this twist on a traditional Bond story.<\/p>\n

Originally announced as \u201cProject 007\u201d in 2020, IO Interactive has started to loosen the valve on information about its upcoming game starring the international man of mystery. While we still haven\u2019t had a chance to go hands-on with the project, it looks promising. Blending Hitman-style stealth-action with the globetrotting cinematic shine and sense of humor you\u2019d expect from any silver screen adventure starring your pick of the actors who\u2019ve held a license to kill, it feels appropriate that its villains would be larger than life, just like in the novels and films. That all starts with a bit of blockbuster stunt casting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lenny Kravitz as Bawma in 007: First Light.<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s new to the series as an actor, Kravitz\u2019s love for the James Bond movies as a fan goes back to his time lining up to see Roger Moore\u2019s films in junior high and high school. \u201cI used to line up on the first night it would be in the theater with a friend of mine,\u201d the musician told me, making sure to pay lip service to his favorite leading men, Roger Moore and Sean Connery. \u201cThe theme songs were always amazing, too, always epic,\u201d he told me, reminiscing on Carly Simon\u2019s Nobody Does It Better from The Spy Who Loved Me before shouting out his favorites: Shirley Bassey\u2019s iconic Goldfinger, Wings\u2019 Live and Let Die, and Duran Duran\u2019s A View To Kill.<\/p>\n

Kravitz\u2019s cool charisma and rockstar persona feel well-tuned for the role of a pirate king.<\/p>\n

Kravitz\u2019s cool charisma and rockstar persona feel well-tuned for the role of a pirate king. But he insists that he\u2019s not just playing himself or sending up his favorite campy villains of bygone Bond films. Instead, he looked inward, drawing on his own experiences for inspiration. \u201cI\u2019ve met some folks that are\u2026 similar to his character. I grew up in the Bahamas as well as New York City and there were guys who had [Bawma\u2019s] vibe and were doing similar things in the islands.\u201d The musician told me the hardest part of playing Bawma was finding that voice and personality. \u201cIt\u2019s really all in the voice,\u201d he assured me. \u201cIt took a moment, but eventually we found the sweet spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kravitz isn\u2019t just a prolific performer. He also brought some of his expertise as an icon in the fashion world to the character, even getting involved in giving notes to the art and design team, weighing in on Bawma\u2019s costume as seen in his reveal trailer. From the cut of his jacket to the placement of tattoos and scars, the final design in the trailer was the result of deep collaboration between Kravitz and the IO Interactive team.<\/p>\n

During our conversation, Kravitz dropped a few hints that Bawma might not be an outright bad guy, though, painting him as more of a morally ambiguous antihero, rather than a straightforward villain. \u201cHe\u2019s an interesting guy. We\u2019re not quite sure how he\u2019s going to turn.\u201d IO Interactive CEO and 007 First Light Director Hakan Abrak told me, \u201cWe wanted more than just a one-sided villain, like we wanted to have some kind of charisma.\u201d Abrak added that he\u2019s not all-out evil, teasing, \u201cHe has more sides to him that could maybe turn out surprising in the story. You\u2019ll need to wait to see that until the game comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That depth played into IO\u2019s casting for Bawma, Abrak told me. During early meetings, IOI realized they needed a performer who could captivate a crowd to fit the character they\u2019d written. He told me, \u201cThe way Lenny moves, the way he draws sympathy and empathy kind of drags you in as a person\u201d played a big role in pushing IO to choose the rockstar for this role.<\/p>\n

Since these interviews, IO Interactive has announced that 007 First Light has been delayed from March 27, 2026, to May 27, 2026. For more on 007 First Light, check out our first big preview from last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, IO Interactive revealed that musician and singer Lenny Kravitz would be making his video game debut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":{"0":"post-391932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}