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Bond girl roles are high profile parts, and the announcement of the actresses playing them is usually surrounded with a large amount of publicity. For actresses not already established, the parts can be a major boost to a career.
Most Bond Girl characters fall into one of the categories of:
Enemy Bond girls frequently change sides during the course of the movie. Supposedly friendly girls have also been known to betray Bond. Initially Bond girls were relatively ineffectual characters, needing to be rescued and protected by Bond. In later movies they became more equal, having special skills needed by Bond to complete his mission, and sometimes rescuing Bond. It is usual for surviving Bond girl characters at the end of the movie to express their gratitude and affection for Bond in the most intimate way possible. Uniquely one Bond Girl (Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, played by Diana Rigg) married Bond at the end of the movie, only to be killed the same day. The character of Sylvia Trench, played by Eunice Gayson , is the only Bond girl to appear in two Bond films, as she was intended to be a regular in the film series, but the character was dropped after her encore appearance in From Russia with Love. In another unique situation, the character of Elektra King in The World is Not Enough is initially established as a traditional Bond girl, complete with romantic trysts with Bond, only to be revealed as the main villain of the film. Maud Adams is the only actress to date to have played more than one Bond girl.
Several recent Bond film productions have flirted with the idea of bringing back past Bond girl actresses, either as new characters or as their original roles. Media reports during production of The World is Not Enough indicated that the producers planned to include cameo appearances by every surviving Bond girl actress, from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, but this never occurred (although one "eye candy" category Bond girl was played by the daughter of Eunice Gayson). Early scripts for Die Another Day included an appearance by Yeoh's character Wai Lin from Tomorrow Never Dies but Yeoh was unavailable for filming and a new character was created.
In another unique case, the character of Jinx Johnson ( Halle Berry) from Die Another Day was to have been spun off into her own series of action movies, but these plans were cancelled in 2003.
Although it is sometimes thought that the only requirements for an actress in a Bond girl role are to look good in a variety of skimpy costumes, many fine actresses have played the roles, and have had distinguished careers before and afterwards. As of 2004 Halle Berry and Kim BasingerKim Basinger (born December 8, 1953 in Athens, Georgia) is a notable American film actress who entered the profession after great success as a model. Her most prominent appearances include Nine 1/2 Weeks ( 1986), Batman ( 1989), and L. Confidential ( 1997 are the only OscarBob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. The Academy Awards (often better known as Oscars) are the most prominent film award in the United States. The Awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a p winners to play a Bond girl.
Bond girls have often been criticized by feminists and others who feel they act too much like damsels in distress and less as strong characters and role models. Although there are examples in which this was true, such as the character of bumbling Mary Goodnight in Man with the Golden Gun and Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill, an examination of the Bond film series reveals this to be very much the exception rather than the rule. Beginning with Andress in Dr. No, Bond girl characters - at least the lead characters and villains - have more often been shown to be headstrong, resourceful, and, particularly in recent films, quite capable of holding their own.
In 2002, former Bond girl Maryam D'Abo co-wrote a book entitled Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond.
The list of main Bond girls so far:
In author Ian Fleming's first Bond book, Casino Royale, it is believed that he based the female character "Vesper Lynd" on real life SOE agent, Christine Granville.
With the 2004 video game Everything or Nothing released by Electronic Arts, Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum, Misaki Ito and Mya became the first 'virtual Bond girls', playing Serena St. Germaine, Dr. Katya Nadanova, Miss Nagai and Agent Mya Starling respectively. Although not the first Bond videogame to feature original characters, Everything or Nothing was the first to cast well-known actresses in the roles.
James Bond