Search Results for: early days

Giphy What would James Bond be without the stream of glamorous and beautiful women that surround him? With each new film, he attracts yet more women, and these leading ladies have been affectionately and notoriously known as Bond girls. Producers aim to get the hottest and most versatile actresses from all over the world on board, and I think it’s fair to say that more often than not, they succeed! Plus there are a lot of juicy details and saucy secrets that even the biggest fans of the franchise don’t know about its Bond girls. And a lot of these unknown facts are about the very actresses who play these women! Get to know some of the most steamy secrets about the Bond girls we’ve met over the last five decades… 1. Vesper In Casino Royale Did you know that Casino Royale‘s Vesper was actually based on a real person? Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond books, had a short-lived affair with a woman called Christine Granville, who was also known as Vesperale. Vesperale was the inspiration behind the character of Vesper. The producers of 1995’s GoldenEye really wanted Elizabeth Hurley to play the part of Natalya, but she turned the role down! 2. Elizabeth Hurley Turned Down GoldenEye It seems unlikely that an actress would turn down a role as a Bond girl! I mean, it’s fun, it’s sexy, it’s action-packed. And the really hilarious thing about it all is that Elizabeth went on to play Vanessa Kensington in the lovable and popular Bond parody, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. In the 2008 Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, James Bond and the leading Bond girl do not have sex… 3. No Sexy Time For Bond And Camille And why is this something worth noting? Well, because at that point, it was the first time in James Bond movie history that Bond doesn’t sleep with a leading Bond girl! Have you ever wondered what M stands for? M works for MI6, so could M possibly be short for MI6? 4. What Is M’s Real Name? In the script for the 1995 Bond movie, GoldenEye, M’s full name is revealed to be Barbara Mawdsley, but she’s never actually referred to by this name in the film. In the Bond movie, Never Say Never Again, things got very steamy between Sean Connery and Barbara Cerrera… 5. Barbara Cerrera Was Up For The Sex Scenes Barbara Cerrera decided she didn’t want to have a body double replace her during the sex scenes between herself and Sean Connery – a bold move! In fact, she point blank refused one, and so the sex scenes in the film really do feature the actress. Honor Blackman was the oldest woman in the history of the Bond movies to play a Bond girl… 6. The Oldest Bond Girl Honor was 37-years-old when she played the role of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. The producers of the franchise are now obviously used to hiring younger actresses who are “in their prime”, to play James Bond’s hot lovers. Goldfinger, however, was the third movie of the entire franchise which could have set a precedent for a more mature Bond girl to take center stage, but it appears it didn’t. In 1997, Teri Hatcher took part in Tomorrow Never Dies, alongside Pierce Brosnan, but she probably would never have agreed to do the role if it wasn’t for her husband… 7. Why Teri Hatcher Agreed To Do Bond Teri’s husband at the time, Jon Tenney, was a huge Bond fan, and it was a sort of fantasy for him to be married to a Bond girl. And with this new Bond movie, he finally could! Ahh the things you do for love! Do you know the deal behind most recognized Bond Girl, Pussy Galore? Click NEXT to find out. So what’s the deal behind the most recognized Bond girl name ever, Pussy Galore?! 8. Pussy Galore The name “Pussy Galore” is so laughable that even the Austin Powers movies which was a spoof of James Bond parodied it by writing in the character, Alotta Fagina! But Pussy Galore certainly wasn’t the only provocative Bond girl name. In fact, a lot of the Bond girls had suggestive names: Dr. No‘s Honey Ryder, Moonraker‘s Dr. Holly Goodhead, and Octopussy‘s Octopussy are just a few examples. There were a number of love scenes between Roger Moore and Bond girl actress, Madeline Smith, which the late Roger Moore’s wife may not have been too happy about… 9. Roger Moore’s Jealous Wife In fact, Roger Moore’s wife was always on the Live and Let Die set when he and his Bond girl were filming steamy bedroom scenes. And she watched every single move they made… In the 1999 movie, The World is Not Enough, the main villain wasn’t male as was usually the case… 10. The First Main Female Villain Elektra King, played by Sophie Marceau, was the main villain of the film! In fact, this film marked the very first time in the series of Bond movies that James Bond kills a Bond girl! In the movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, Teri Hatcher’s Paris Carver has an affair with Pierce Brosnan’s Bond… 11. James Bond The Homewrecker It was the first time an audience had seen Bond engage in an illicit affair with a married woman! Gemma Arterton played Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace in 2008, and she was actually pretty darn lucky to get the role. Almost as lucky as us moviegoers were to have her in the film… 12. Against All Odds Gemma won the role over about 1,500 other actresses! It could quite literally have been anyone, but the dazzling and charming actress won the role fair and square. In Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s Bond has a girl, who ends up being the one that got away… 13. No Bond Girl At The End Casino Royale is the only Bond movie in which James Bond ends up without a girl as the film draws to a close. James Bond has always been known to sleep around, but the 1983 movie takes things to a whole new level with the aging Sean Connery taking center stage… 14. Bond Is Busier Than Ever Before In Never Say Never, James Bond sleeps with four women throughout the movie… Bond travels the world and meets all kinds of different villains… and women! And quite a few of these women happen to be French… 15. Ten French Actresses Since its inception, there have been ten French actresses in the Bond franchise. One dedicated Bond girl NEXT Caterina was stoked to get the chance to play a Bond girl in Casino Royale, and she certainly wanted to make the most of it… 16. A Very Dedicated Bond Girl That’s why she opted out of getting a stunt double to perform the scenes in which her character rides a horse. Throughout the course of the movie, she’d had an injured leg, and so it was advised that a professional film the scenes on the horse. Caterina desperately wanted to be seen riding the horse for real, injured leg and all… Until 1997, there was a pattern in the Bond films in which the Bond girl that appeared first would be the one who is killed off… 17. Give Bond Girl No.1 A Break In Tomorrow Never Dies, Paris Carver is the first Bond girl to be introduced in the movie, and she’s also the one that ends up dying in the end, by the hands of none other than James Bond himself. Miranda Frost was a Bond girl character in Die Another Day, however, it was initially supposed to be the character of Gala Brand in her place… 18. Frost Over Brand Gala Brand appears in Ian Fleming’s third Bond novel, Moonraker, as a policewoman in England’s Special Branch. However, for some reason, she hasn’t yet appeared in any of the Bond movies. Miranda Frost, on the other hand, is an agent who works for MI6 but ends up in cahoots with Gustav Graves, the movie’s main villain. Who knows whether Gala Brand will ever make an appearance in at least one of the movies… Strawberry Fields is an MI6 agent in Quantum of Solace. She is given the important task of preventing Bond from following the villainous Dominic Greene to Bolivia… 19. Blast From The Past The character of Agent Strawberry Fields is an homage to the Bond girls of the 1960s, which is why she looks like she could be a Bond girl from a classic Bond movie like Goldfinger or Dr. No. It was a nice little nostalgic treat for the fans of the original movies which started in the 1960s. The shower scene near the end of Casino Royale was a nice touch to the action-packed movie. We get to see a more tender side to James Bond as he comforts his main Bond girl… 20. Casino Royale‘s Shower Scene The script for the movie, Casino Royale stated that Vesper, Eva Green’s Bond Girl, would only be wearing underwear in the shower scene. However, Daniel Craig didn’t think that was a good idea – he felt in that moment, Vesper wouldn’t have stripped off; that it would have felt gratuitous. And so Eva Green ended up not taking her kit off. When you think about it, it was quite brave of Daniel to make such a bold suggestion considering it was his first Bond movie and all. In 1962, the very first Bond movie, Dr. No, was released with Sean Connery debuting the very first performance of James Bond. And who was his main Bond girl in the movie? Honey Ryder, played by Swiss beauty, Ursula Andress… 21. Ursula Andress’s Accent Throughout the Bond movies, there have been a number of foreign-born Bond girls, and so it’s pretty common for them to have accents that are noticeably different Bond’s own accent. However, it appears that Ursula Andress’s accent was far too strong for the producers’ liking! In fact, when the movie was released in theaters, it wasn’t Ursula’s own voice coming out of her character’s mouth – she’d been dubbed over by German voice actress, Nikki van der Zyl! Here’s hoping she wasn’t just chosen for her pretty face… Click NEXT to read about Diamonds Are Forever Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh movie in the series, came out in 1971 and featured Sean Connery who had made his debut as the very first James Bond nearly a decade prior to this movie. This time the Bond girl, Tiffany Case, was played by Jill St. John… 22. The First American Bond Girl Californian-born Jill St. John was the very first American actress to play a Bond girl since the film series’ inception. And not only is the actress American, but she also plays an American and an American diamond smuggler at that. In 2002, the beautiful A-list actress, Halle Berry, played Jinx in Die Another Day. You might say it was a role of a lifetime to be able to play a Bond girl, however, then Halle Berry left production for a few days, to attend the Oscars… 23. Halle Berry, The Oscar Winner In 2002, Halle Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress at the 74th Academy Awards, and that same year the Bond movie she was filming came out in theaters. When she returned to work on the Bond set, she could do so knowing all the while that she was Oscar-worthy and versatile enough to play any kind of role; eye candy in a spy movie and a train wreck mother in a drama. She can have her pick… Mie Hama is a Japanese actress who played Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice, however, before being cast as a glamorous lady in an action movie, she did something rather different… 24. A Bus Conductor As Bond Girl? A lot of the women who’d played Bond girls before Mie Hama were well-off and European, Mia, on the other hand, was Japanese and a former bus conductor. So instead of frolicking around in fancy 60s headscarves, she would have been walking up and down buses collecting people’s fares. There have been a lot of popular Bond girls over decades. Every James Bond fan has a favorite Bond girl, and if you don’t have a favorite, are you even a Bond fan? 25. Only One Repeat Bond Girl However, there’s only ever been one woman since the film series’ inception who’s been in more than one Bond movie, and that’s Swedish actress, Maud Adams. She played a Bond girl twice! The first time was in The Man With The Golden Gun in 1974 and in 1983, she played Octopussy in Octopussy. American actress, Barbara Bach, played Anya Amasova in 1977 Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me. 26. Bond’s By Day/Ringo’s By Night There have been many, many hot Bond girls, but Barbara Bach is definitely up there! But did you know that she was married to Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr? In fact, they got married four years after The Spy Who Loved Me was released. In 1981, Cassandra Harris starred as a Bond girl in the 18th Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only, as the Countess Lisl von Schlaf. At the time, she was married to Pierce Brosnan, and what do you know, a decade later, he starred as Bond himself… 27. Life Sort Of Imitating Art While Cassandra was filming For Your Eyes Only, she managed to get her husband, Pierce, to meet the producer, Albert R. Broccoli. And you know what that led to – his starring in four bond movies: 1995’s GoldenEye, 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, and 2002’s Die Another Day. The 1981 For Your Eyes Only poster features a long and slender pair of legs that supposedly belong to a Bond girl… 28. Seductive Movie Poster In between the legs, you can spot a mini-Bond in action! The poster is supposed to be promoting For Your Eyes Only, so you might think that the main Bond girl actress, Carol Boquet, would be featured in the poster, but no, it’s not her. Those pair of legs belongs to a model. And guess what the model was asked to do during the photo shoot – she was asked to wear the bikini bottoms backward so that the skimpier part was worn over her tush, showing more of her butt cheeks. Who can forget this NEXT Bond girl? Do you remember Ursula Andress? The Swiss actress from earlier? The one who’s apparently incomprehensible accent meant that her own voice was axed from the movie? Well, guess which movie she starred in five years after Dr. No… 29. Casino Royale, 1967 Yes, there’s a Bond movie called Casino Royale which is one of the more recent ones, having been released in 2006. However, did you know that in 1967, there was a spoof Bond movie with the same name? Well, Ursula, who had been dubbed in 1962’s Dr. No, starred in the spoof movie too! Other stars in the film also included Orson Welles and Woody Allen. You won’t find a Bond fan who doesn’t know about the scene in Dr. No, where Honey Ryder comes out of the water in that tight white bikini… 30. Honey Ryder’s Famous White Bikini It’s an iconic scene! Well, you probably didn’t know this about that seductive bikini – Ursula helped sew it with the costume designer, Tessa Prendergast Welborn so that it would fit her perfectly! After the movie, it was sold at an auction for $45,195! Stephanie Sigman starred alongside Daniel Craig in the 2015 James Bond film, Spectre, as Estrella. She is depicted in the first scene of the movie… 31. First Mexican Actress Stephanie Sigman was the first Mexican Bond girl to play a Bond girl in the Bond movies! However, if you’re a really big fan of Bond, then you might know that a Mexican actress, Linda Christian, had actually played a Bond girl in the 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale. Ursula Andress wasn’t the Bond girl actress who helped make a spoof of the James Bond movies… 32. Another Bond spoof The woman who played Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love, Daniela Bianchi accepted a role in OK Connery, a James Bond parody. Sean Connery’s brother is also in it, and plays a spy who replaces his brother! On the surface, James Bond is about killing the bad guys and sleeping with hot women – a lot of hot women! 33. 52 Women It has been calculated that since the series’ inception, James Bond must have killed 352 people, and slept with 52 women. To be honest, I’m surprised the second figure isn’t way higher… Tanya Roberts, who starred in the 1985 Bond movie A View to a Kill, claimed that starring in movie led to her being pigeon-holed, and even worse… not being offered main roles! 34. Curse Of The Bond Girl A lot of the women, throughout the history of the Bond series, who played Bond girls were European models or aspiring actresses who probably weren’t really taken very seriously, to begin with. So in starring in a Bond movie, their image as a sex object solidifies. Eunice Gayson plays Bond girl, Sylvia Trench in the first Bond movie, Dr. No. Sylvia Trench wasn’t even a character in Ian Fleming’s novels, but who cares when she got to do this with James Bond himself… 35. Bond’s First Onscreen Lover Eunice Gayson’s Bond girl, Sylvia Trench, was the first woman in the entire Bond movie series to sleep with Bond. And how did it all go down? Well, they started off playing baccarat and then one thing led to another… So, the 2002 Bond movie, Die Another Day, is supposed to be partially set in Uganda, North Korea and in Cuba. It’s in Cuba that we see Halle Berry emerging from the sea in an orange bikini, or is it? 36. Halle Berry Bikini Shots Halle Berry makes her entrance in the movie from the sea – it’s a pretty unforgettable scene. The audience is supposed to see her in Cuba for the first time, as that’s where the beginning part of the movie is set, however, the scene was actually shot in Cadiz, Spain. It was on an entirely different continent! In fact, throughout the movie, the supposed international feel that Bond’s traveling is supposed to provide the film is pretty inauthentic. For instance, when Bond was apparently in landlocked Uganda, there was very clearly an ocean in the background. And the North Korea scenes were actually filmed at Pinewood Studios. Click NEXT to see more about Bond's many women... So, James Bond is known for picking up a new woman, or several women in each new movie, and surprise surprise, they’re usually quite a bit younger than him… 37. Bond Cougars We already know that Honor Blackman was the oldest ever Bond girl, but did you know she’s only one of two Bond girl actresses who were older than the actor playing Bond? Well, it’s true – while Honor Blackman was 37-years-old during the filming of Goldfinger, Sean Connery was 34-years-old. And in the 1969 Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond girl, Diana Rigg who was 31-years-old during filming was a year older than George Lazenby. So the late Roger Moore was in seven movies from the Bond franchise: Moonraker, A View To Kill, Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun, Octopussy, For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me... 38. Roger Moore’s Daughter’s Cameo In Bond So, in which of Roger Moore’s seven Bond movies does his daughter make an appearance? The very first perhaps? His final Bond movie – in celebration of his Bond career? Nope, she didn’t appear in any one of them! She did, however, make a cameo in Die Another Day as a stewardess. Okay, so she wasn’t exactly a Bond girl, but come on, she’s the daughter of the late great Roger Moore! Denise Richards a.k.a Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife and baby momma played the Bond girl, Christmas Jones, in 1999 Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough… 39. The Worst Bond Girl Ever By many in the James Bond fandom, Denise Richards is considered the worst of all the Bond girls. In fact, she was so bad that she was even the first Bond girl actress to win a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress! So, Ursula Andress, the actress who was dubbed over in Dr. Nobecause her accent was deemed too strong, was cast in a pretty unusual way… 40. Unusual Casting Process For One Special Bond Girl First off, she was cast a mere two weeks before filming began which is quite odd for such a big blockbuster such as a Bond movie! In fact, when she was cast, not one single member of the crew had even met her! They had only seen a photo of the blond bombshell, and that was apparently enough for them to want her on board! Judi Dench plays MI6 chief, M, in seven Bond movies before being killed off in 2012’s Skyfall… 41. More Of Judi Dench As M Desmond Llewellyn is another Bond veteran, in fact, more so than Judi Dench considering he played Q in 17 movies between 1963 and 1999! However, in spite of this, Judi Dench has more screen time in Skyfall, the movie in which literally stops existing, than Desmond Llewellyn has had in 17 whole movies! Halle had literally just won an Oscar – she was living the high life! That is, until she was admitted to hospital because of a scene went wrong in Die Another Day… 42. Halle Berry’s Much-Needed Medical Procedure When Halle was filming an action sequence in Die Another Day, debris from a smoke grenade managed to land directly in her eyes! In fact, she even needed to undergo an operation in order to remove it! Scary stuff… Sometimes Bond girls end up being more popular than the guys playing the main man himself, James Bond! 43. A Bond Girl Spin-Off? After the 1997 Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, in which stunning Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh, played Colonel Wai Lin, producers very much wanted to develop a film around Michelle’s character specifically because she was so popular, but for some reason, it ended up not happening. There were also rumors that there would be a spin-off with Halle Berry’s character, Jinx, but that ended up not happening as well! Click NEXT to read about Tomorrow Never Dies In Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond girl, Paris Carver is played by Teri Hatcher, however, someone else was briefly considered for the role… 44. Monica Bellucci’s Bond Snub And that someone was Monica Bellucci. She wasn’t too happy when she was ultimately turned down for the role – in fact, she reportedly referred to them as “fools”. Weirdly enough, in 2015, she went on to accept the part of Lucia in Spectre, despite having been so offended by the snub, 18 years earlier. So let it be known, Monica Bellucci was a Bond girl, after all… In 1995’s GoldenEye, Dutch actress, Famke Jannssen, played seductive Bond girl, Xenia Onatopp… 45. Xenia Onatopp Turns Into A Man? When Xenia Onatopp flies the Tiger helicopter in GoldenEye, it’s not Fanke Janssen doing the stunt but a stunt double, and that stunt double happened to be a big burly man called Wayne Michaels. In the movie, Bond sees a figure descending from a helicopter and she ends up crashing into Bond. Alison Doody played the youngest-ever Bond girl when she appeared in A View To a Kill… 46. The Youngest Bond Girl Alison played Jenny Flex and started filming when she was only 17-years-old, and later turned 18 during the filming process. In 2002, Rosamund Pike starred alongside Pierce Brosnan as Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. Little did she know, almost a decade later, she would also manage to bag the role of Pussy Galore… 47. Rosamund Pike As Pussy Galore In 2010, Ian McKellen took part in a BBC radio adaptation of Goldfinger. Ian played Goldfinger, Toby Stephens played James Bond, and Rosamund Pike played Pussy Galore… In the 1989 Bond film Licence to Kill, Pam Bouvier played Carey Lowell. Little did she know she’d be playing her again 23 years later… 48. Carey Lowell Reprises Her Role Pam Bouvier is the main Bond girl in the 1989 movie, and when Carey Lowell was approached to voice the character for the 2012 video game, 007 Legends, she agreed! There’s only one Pam Bouvier… Kim Basinger played Domino Petachi in 1983 Bond movie, Never Say Never Again. But I’m guessing she won’t be up for any future Bond roles… 49. Kim Basinger Hated Acting In Bond Kim Basinger even went on to say that acting in Never Say Never Again, was one of the very worst experiences she had made in her acting career. And why was that? Well, mainly because she and Irvin Kershner, the director, hated each other’s guts… Kim Basinger wasn’t even a James Bond fan, to begin with, so when she ended up not getting on with the director, she probably regretted even signing on! 50. Kim Was No Bond Fan How can you tell Kim wasn’t a fan of the James Bond movie series? Well, she hadn’t seen a single Bond movie before accepting the role in Never Say Never Again! Click NEXT to continue... A lot of deaths have occurred throughout the Bond movie series, and a lot of them have been by the hand of James Bond himself. If you’re one of Bond’s main girls, chances are you’ll have to watch your back… 51. 1 in 3 Bond Girls Die Why do the Bond girls have to watch their back? Well, because about 1 in 3 Bond girls have died throughout the series. Bond has slept with 52 women, and 16 of them ended up dying. Often these women die in quite a brutal and outrageous manner. Stay away, ladies… Here’s another James Bond veteran for you – the original Miss Moneypenny, Lois Maxwell… 52. The Original Miss Moneypenny The most recent Miss Moneypenny to grace the big screen was Naomi Harris in Spectre. A total of six actresses have played the role, and the very first was Lois Maxwell. In fact, Lois Maxwell played the character in 14 movies! That’s insane… The character of Vesper Lynd may have been played by Eva Green in the 2006 Bond movie, Casino Royale, however, she could have been played by this blond bombshell… 53. Scarlet Johansson As Bond Girl? Well, before the casting directors chose Eva Green for the role, they had considered casting the gorgeous Scarlet Johansson! Who knows why that ended up not happening… Quentin Tarantino was strongly considered as a director for Casino Royale… 54. Uma Thurman As Bond Girl? Although he ended up not directing the movie, he let everyone know who he would have chosen for the role of Vesper Lynd, and it wasn’t Eva Green or Scarlet Johansson! Tarantino said he would have cast Uma Thurman as Vesper. I mean, they did work together on Pulp Fiction, and that turned out pretty great… Gemma Arteron’s character, Agent Strawberry Fields had one of the most memorable death scenes in the entire Bond series… 55. Gemma Arterton’s First Day On Bond For one thing, she was drowned in thick black oil, and then placed in the bed she had shared with Bond the night before. But guess what – that was the very first scene that she shot for the movie. It can’t have been the most pleasant way to start on a movie. She said herself that she had to be completely covered in black slime and then lay on the bed for two hours. What a morbid way to kick off shooting… (Source: Viral Thread) Related: BREAKING NEWS: Sir Roger Moore Dead: James Bond Actor Dies Aged 89 Hollywood Love Stories No One Could Believe Happened In Real Life If you LIKE this story, please SHARE this story...