According to
Fox News Magazine,
Ursula Andress (as Honey Ryder) in
Dr. No (1962) is widely regarded as the first Bond girl, although
Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench and
Zena Marshall as Miss Taro appeared onscreen before Andress in the same film.
Goldfinger (1964), the third film, established the Bond girl as regularly appearing in Bond films. There is no set rule on what kind of person a Bond girl will be or what role she will play. She may be an ally or an enemy of Bond, pivotal to the mission or simply there for her looks. There are female characters such as
Judi Dench's
M,
Camille Montes (
Olga Kurylenko), a Bolivian intelligence agent who teams up with Bond in
Quantum of Solace, and Bibi Dahl (
Lynn-Holly Johnson) in
For Your Eyes Only, who are not romantic interests of Bond, and hence may not be considered Bond girls. It has been argued that M's pivotal role in the plot of
Skyfall qualifies her as a Bond girl or Bond woman. There have been many attempts to break down the numerous Bond girls into a top 10 list for the entire series; characters who often appear in these lists include
Anya Amasova (from
The Spy Who Loved Me, portrayed by
Barbara Bach); Pussy Galore (from
Goldfinger, portrayed by
Honor Blackman); Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (from ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service
, portrayed by Diana Rigg); and often ranked Number 1 on the list, Honey Ryder (from Dr. No
, portrayed by Ursula Andress). Entertainment Weekly'' put "Bond bathing suits" on its 2009 end-of-the-decade "best-of" list.
Roles and impact Roald Dahl said that when writing the script for
You Only Live Twice, he was advised to use three Bond girls: The first should die "preferably in Bond's arms" early, the second a villain whom Bond seduces before she dies in an unusual and gory way midway, and the third survives to the end of the film. In several, the Bond girl is revealed, after her tryst with Bond, to be a villainess. Examples are
Fatima Blush (
Barbara Carrera) in
Never Say Never Again (1983),
Elektra King (
Sophie Marceau) in
The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Miranda Frost (
Rosamund Pike) in
Die Another Day (2002). The
Timothy Dalton films of the 1980s introduced the "Bond woman", who is equal to and challenges Bond, but he remains the heterosexual hero; they are depicted with Dalton and later Bonds and their cars and gadgets, implying that all are possessions that Bond can use and dispose. As of 2013, there had been only two films in which James Bond falls in love with the Bond girl. The first was ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969), in which Countess Tracy di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) marries Bond but is shot dead by Irma Bunt and Ernst Stavro Blofeld at the story's end. The second was Vesper Lynd (
Eva Green) in
Casino Royale (2006). Bond confesses his love to her and resigns from
MI6 so that they can have a normal life together. He later learns that she had been a double agent working for his enemies. The enemy organisation
Quantum had kidnapped her former lover and had been blackmailing her to secure her co-operation. She ends up actually falling in love with Bond, but dies, as Quantum is closing in on her, by drowning in a lift in a building under renovation in
Venice.
Effect on career The role of a Bond girl, as it has evolved in the films, is typically a high-profile part that can sometimes give a major boost to the career of unestablished actresses, although a number of Bond girls were well-established beforehand. For instance, Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman were both cast as Bond girls after they had already become stars in the United Kingdom for their roles in the television series
The Avengers.
Teri Hatcher was already known for her role as
Lois Lane in the television series
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman before she was cast in
Tomorrow Never Dies. A few years after playing a Bond girl, she became one of the most highly paid actresses on television, starring in
Desperate Housewives. , who played
Domino Petachi in
Never Say Never Again (1983) and
Rosamund Pike, who played Miranda Frost in
Die Another Day (2002).
Albert R. Broccoli's original choice for the role of Domino Derval was
Julie Christie following her performance in
Billy Liar in 1963. It seems he was disappointed when he met her so instead he considered
Raquel Welch after seeing her on the cover of the October 1964 issue of
Life magazine. Welch, however, was hired by
Richard Zanuck of
20th Century Fox to appear in the film
Fantastic Voyage the same year instead. French actress
Claudine Auger was ultimately cast in the role.
Thunderball launched Auger into a successful European film career but did little for her in the United States. The producers encountered difficulty in casting the female lead in
Casino Royale (2006), due to the perception among many leading actresses that appearing in a
Bond film could hinder their careers.
Catherine Zeta Jones was one of several actresses who turned down a role in the film. However, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary, with several former Bond girls going on to have very high profile acting careers. Of the earlier actresses, Ursula Andress and Honor Blackman both had well regarded careers, and
Jane Seymour—who was an unknown when she was cast in
Live and Let Die—later won a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the
40th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1988 for playing
Maria Callas in the TV movie
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World and then became a household name playing the title role of Dr.
Michaela Quinn in her TV series
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Since
Michael G. Wilson and
Barbara Broccoli took over producing the films in the mid-1990s, several actresses have also won or been nominated for an
Oscar:
Kim Basinger in
1998 (
Best Supporting Actress for
L.A. Confidential), Halle Berry in
2002 (who won
Best Actress for ''
Monster's Ball while she was filming Die Another Day
), Rosamund Pike (nominated for Best Actress for Gone Girl in 2015), and Michelle Yeoh in 2023 (Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once''). Ultimately, the up-and-coming actress Eva Green was cast as Vesper Lynd, and won
BAFTA's
Rising Star Award for her performance at the
60th British Academy Film Awards.
Multiple appearances Prior to the series being rebooted in 2006 with
Casino Royale, Sylvia Trench was the only Bond girl character to appear in more than one film (
Dr. No in 1962 and
From Russia with Love in 1963). She was meant to be Bond's regular girlfriend, but was dropped after her appearance in the second film.
Léa Seydoux, who played
Madeleine Swann in
Spectre, reprised her role in
No Time to Die (2021). In the Eon series, three actresses have made reappearances as different Bond girls:
Martine Beswick and
Nadja Regin both first appeared in
From Russia with Love, and then appeared in
Thunderball and
Goldfinger, respectively.
Maud Adams played Andrea Anders in
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and the eponymous character in
Octopussy (1983). If the non-Eon produced films,
Casino Royale (1967) and
Never Say Never Again (1983), are included, several other actresses have also been a Bond girl more than once: Ursula Andress in
Dr. No (1962) and
Casino Royale (1967);
Angela Scoular in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969) and Casino Royale
(1967); Valerie Leon in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Never Say Never Again''. == Criticism ==