Lashana Lynch Talks About Being Cast as an LGBTQ+ Icon

British actor Lashana Lynch has probably picked up some fans by playing a female 007 (though not "Jane Bond") and appearing in MCU movies – but she didn't know her new role was an LGBTQ+ favorite until after she was cast as Miss Honey in the Netflix adaptation of "Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical."

Entertainment Weekly reported on Lynch's reaction to learning that, as EW put it, "For many LGBTQ fans of Matilda, the kindly Miss Honey signaled a queer awakening."

"'Oh my gosh, this is a revelation to me,'" was how the "No Time to Die" actor described her thinking when she learned from social media comments that the character has long been embraced by the LGBTQ+ community as one of our own.

"One of my queer friends said to me after I got cast, 'Oh my gosh. She was like my gay icon when I was growing up,'" Lynch told EW. "And I was like, 'Tell me more. What did you see? What was it? Do I need to be aware of anything?'"

Noting that "the actress in the 1996 film, Embeth Davidtz, brought a specific energy to the role that queer audiences latched onto," EW went on to say that, for Lynch, "there's also something unique to Miss Honey that makes her a point of connection for people."

The actor, who recently starred in female warrior epic "The Woman King," reflected on Miss Honey being a "perfect character," saying that she's the sort of fictional creation that "represents everything to you and can speak to all people, all races, all sexes, all walks of life," EW detailed.

"You don't have to do anything else apart from just being, and every community is going to get what they need from this one person," the "Captain Marvel" actor went on to note. "That's really special. That's a secret weapon."

Lynch herself never clicked to Miss Honey's purported status as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, even though, she told EW, "'Matilda' was one of my favorite books" when she was growing up, and she had also "loved the film as well," watching it "back to back."

Dahl's 1988 book follows the adventures of a telekinetically gifted 5-year-old girl. Composer/lyricist Tim Minchin and book writer Dennis Kelly adapted the YA novel into a stage musical in 2010. The new Netflix film premiered on Christmas Day.

Before "No Time to Die" was released, Lynch's role as a female, and purportedly lesbian, MI-6 agent who took the 007 mantle after James Bond's retirement led some to speculate that the character might succeed Daniel Craig, who exited the franchise with the completion of that film.

The next Bond's casting remains a mystery – producer Barbara Broccoli has said it will be filled by a male actor once again, but she has also expressed openness to the idea of the character being portrayed as non-binary – but Lynch had been looking for something more along the lines of Miss Honey, she told the entertainment outlet.

"I had been manifesting a role like Miss Honey without knowing that it would appear as Miss Honey for many, many years," Lynch shared. "I wanted something subtle to show range, to show vulnerability, deep emotion, and to really teach the world, through my work, where strength comes from. Where a woman's strength comes from, and where a Black woman's strength comes from."

Added Lynch: "Miss Honey is a nice example of reminding the world that strength is sometimes hard to come by, and sometimes in order to get it, you have to go through the most unorthodox routes. But when you do get there, you find a garden of inspiration and happiness and releasing of trauma and things that are holding you back from being your higher self."