Strawberry Fields: From Professional Agent to Bond Girl
Strawberry Fields is an MI6 intelligence agent, stationed in Bolivia through the British consulate. She makes an appearance in the 2008 film Quantum of Solace, and her job is to make sure Bond does as he’s told and heads back to London the next day.
Played by British actress Gemma Arterton, Agent Fields brings plenty of energy to the mission, but she meets an untimely yet spectacular death.
Strawberry Fields
After James Bond ignores M‘s orders and goes to Bolivia to investigate Dominic Greene to Bolivia, Strawberry Fields is tasked with reeling him in, redirecting him, and ensuring he returns to London on the next flight.
Outside the airport in La Paz, Agent Fields waits for Bond and René Mathis, and confidently asserts her authority over 007. Despite her youthful age, which Bond perceives as a weakness, she remains resolute, threatening to leave him in jail until their London-bound flight the next morning. Bond challenges her threats, teasing that they still have “the entire night.”
When they reach the budget hostel, which Fields had booked, advising Bond and Mathis that they’re undercover teachers on vacation. Bond insists he’s not staying in such a rundown hostel, and takes them to the opulent Andean Grand Hotel in downtown Bolivia.
Despite initially resisting, Strawberry Fields is overcome by the grandeur lifestyle and quickly falls for Bond’s allure and the two end up enjoying some Bollinger and and night in bed.
Regretting her liaison with Bond, Agent Fields says she may never forgive herself. Attempting to lift her spirits, Bond showers her with affection and invites her to a party hosted by Dominic Greene, to which Mathis has been invited.
At the party, Fields and Bond scrutinize Greene’s environmentally-focused speech and meet Colonel Carlos, the Bolivian Chief of Police, who secretly serves as a double agent for the crooked General Medrano.
As Bond wanders off, leaving Fields with Carlos and Mathis, she closely monitors Bond’s activities. Observing rising tensions between Bond and Camille Montes, Strawberry Fields is clearly jealous, and she has to fight her feelings to help Bond and Camille when Greene and his henchmen try to attack them.
As Bond takes Camille away to safety, they’re chased by Greene’s henchmen, and Strawberry Fields sticks a leg out and trips Elvis down the steps allowing Bond and Camille to get away.
After the party, Agent Fields realizes she’s being trailed by Greene’s men, so she leaves a note at the hotel reception for Bond to “Run!”
However, she soon meets a grim fate, and M discovers her lifeless body covered in oil laid out on Bond’s bed reminiscent to Jill Masterson‘s death in Goldfinger. M is livid and blames Bond for having this effect on many women who come into contact with him.
In the end, in a poetic act of retribution, Bond leaves Greene stranded in the desert, leaving him with nothing but a can of engine oil to drink.
Gemma Arterton
Gemma Arterton developed a passion for acting during her school years, and eventually graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Her acting career began at RADA, but she shot to fame in 2007 when she performed at the Globe Theatre in London and debuted in the film St Trinian’s.
In 2008, she landed a role in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace as Bond Girl, Strawberry Fields. She also played the titular character in the BBC’s rendition of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, took on the character of Elizabeth Bennet in ITV’s serial, Lost in Austen, and made waves with a contentious part in the 2009 movie, The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
Beyond acting, Arterton established Rebel Park Productions in 2016, aiming to produce films and TV shows featuring strong female leads. She also produced and co-created the film The Escape in 2018.
