Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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...
[post_page_title]Vesper In Casino Royale[/post_page_title]
Did you know that Casino Royale's Vesper was actually based on a real person?
[caption id="attachment_1518" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Getty[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Elizabeth Hurley Turned Down Golden Eye[/post_page_title]
The producers of 1995's GoldenEye really wanted Elizabeth Hurley to play the part of Natalya, but she turned the role down!
[caption id="attachment_1519" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Getty[/caption]
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 onto play Vanessa Kensington in the lovable and popular Bond parody, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
[post_page_title]No Sexy Time For Bond And Camille[/post_page_title]
In the 2008 Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, James Bond and the leading Bond girl do not have sex...
[caption id="attachment_1521" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures[/caption]
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!
[post_page_title]What Is M's Real Name?[/post_page_title]
Have you ever wondered what M stands for? M works for MI6, so could M possibly be short for MI6?
[caption id="attachment_1522" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions / United Artists[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Barbara Cerrera Was Up For The Sex Scenes[/post_page_title]
In the Bond movie, Never Say Never Again, things got very steamy between Sean Connery and Barbara Cerrera...
[caption id="attachment_1523" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Taliafilm / Producers Sales Organization[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]The Oldest Bond Girl[/post_page_title]
Honor Blackman was the oldest woman in the history of the Bond movies to play a Bond girl...
[caption id="attachment_1524" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Why Teri Hatcher Agreed To Do Bond[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1525" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / United Artists[/caption]
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!
[post_page_title]Pussy Galore[/post_page_title]
So what's the deal behind the most recognized Bond girl name ever, Pussy Galore?!
[caption id="attachment_1527" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Roger Moore's Jealous Wife[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1529" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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...
[post_page_title]The First Main Female Villain[/post_page_title]
In the 1999 movie, The World is Not Enough, the main villain wasn't male as was usually the case...
[caption id="attachment_1530" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
Elektra King, played by Sophie Marceau, was the main villain of the movie! In fact, this movie marked the very first time in the series of Bond movies that James Bond kills a Bond girl!
[post_page_title]James Bond The Homewrecker[/post_page_title]
In the movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, Teri Hatcher's Paris Carver has an affair with Pierce Brosnan's Bond...
[caption id="attachment_1531" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions / United Artists[/caption]
It was the first time an audience had seen Bond engage in an illicit affair with a married woman!
[post_page_title]Against All Odds[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1532" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures[/caption]
Gemma won the role over about 1500 other actresses! It could quite literally have been anyone, but the dazzling and charming actress won the role fair and square.
[post_page_title]No Bond Girl At The End[/post_page_title]
In Casino Royale, Daniel Craig's Bond has a girl, who ends up being the one that got away...
Credit: Columbia Pictures / Eon Productions / Stillking Films / Babelsberg Film / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
Casino Royale is the only Bond movie in which James Bond ends up without a girl as the film draws to a close.
[post_page_title]Bond Is Busier Than Ever Before[/post_page_title]
James Bond has always been known to sleep around, but the 1983 movie takes things to a whole new level with the ageing Sean Connery taking center stage...
[caption id="attachment_1534" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Taliafilm / Producers Sales Organization[/caption]
In Never Say Never, James Bond sleeps with four women throughout the movie...
[post_page_title]Ten French Actresses[/post_page_title]
Bond travels the world, and meets all kinds of different villains... and women! And quite a few of these women happen to be French...
[caption id="attachment_266666" align="aligncenter" width="1"]
Ten French Actresses[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1535" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Ten French Actresses[/caption]
Since its inception, there have been ten French actresses in the Bond franchise.
[post_page_title]A Very Dedicated Bond Girl[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1536" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Columbia Pictures / Eon Productions / Stillking Films Babelsberg Film / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
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 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...
[post_page_title]Give Bond Girl No.1 A Break[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1537" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / United Artists[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Frost Over Brand[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1539" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
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...
[post_page_title]Blast From The Past[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1540" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Columbia Pictures[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Casino Royale's Shower Scene[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1541" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Columbia Pictures / Eon Productions / Stillking Films / Babelsberg Film / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
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 his 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.
[post_page_title]Ursuala Andress' Accent[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1543" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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' 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 had been dubbed over by German voice actress, Nikki van der Zyl! Here's hoping she wasn't just chosen for her pretty face...
[post_page_title]The First American Bond Girl[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1544" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Halle Berry, The Oscar Winner[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1545" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/caption]
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 trainwreck mother in a drama. She can have her pick...
[post_page_title]A Bus Conductor As A Bond Girl?[/post_page_title]
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...
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Only One Repeat Bond Girl[/post_page_title]
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?
[caption id="attachment_1547" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Bond's By Day/Ringo's By Night[/post_page_title]
American actress, Barbara Bach, played Anya Amasova in 1977 Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.
[caption id="attachment_1550" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Life Sort Of Imitating Art[/post_page_title]
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...
[caption id="attachment_1551" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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 the lead to - his starring in four bond movies: 1995's Golden Eye, 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999's The World Is Not Enough, and 2002 Die Another Day.
[post_page_title]Seductive Movie Poster[/post_page_title]
The 1981 For Your Eyes Only poster features a long and slender pair of legs that supposedly belong to a Bond girl...
[caption id="attachment_1552" align="aligncenter" width="760"]
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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 belong to a model. And guess what the model was asked to do during the photoshoot - 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.
[post_page_title]Casino Royale, 1967[/post_page_title]
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...
Credit: Famous Artists Production[/caption]
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.
[post_page_title]Honey Ryder's Famous White Bikini[/post_page_title]
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...
Credit: Eon Productions[/caption]
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!
