Roger Moore named favourite Bond girl: She then helped another star try to replace him

Roger Moore was the perfect gentleman, on and off-screen. He starred with a stunning array of actresses during his tenure as the British superspy from Jane Seymour in 1973’s Live And Let Die, and Britt Ekland and Maud Adams in 1974’s The Man With The Golden Gun to Tanya Roberts and Grace Jones in 1985’s A View To A Kill. Uniquely, Adams actually returned in a different and considerably larger leading role in 1983’s Octopussy, which is back on ITV this afternoon. When he was asked who his favourite all-time Bond Girl was, Moore at first tried to demure, but then couldn’t resist singling one out.

Appearing on Clive Anderson’s All Talk in 1996 he was put on the spot by an audience member and said: “It’s always unfair to play favourites, because the others always say, ‘Why didn’t you mention me…?'”

But then he raised a classic eyebrow and simply said: “Maud Adams.”

The Swedish actress played Scaramanga’s mistress Andrea in The Man With The Golden Gun, who pays for her betrayal of the villain with her life. She was extremely well-liked by the producers who brought her back in the leading title role in Octopussy.  Her character was a breakthrough for female actors in the Bond franchise.

However, just before Octopussy, the producer also asked Adams to help prepare their first choice actor to replace Roger Moore – a star who was even offered the role.

Adams was asked to fly into London to take part in Brolin’s final round of tests. In a surprise twist, it would end up being the Swedish actress, not Brolin, who would star in Octopussy.

She said of her role as the smuggler and cult leader: “I really didn’t expect they would cast me again, and I was asked to come to London to screen test with James Brolin, who they were considering for a new Bond. I thought it would be a wonderful time to catch up with all my old friends. I didn’t realise until afterward that they were serious about me as well.”

Moore had only signed an original three-picture deal and now negotiated each subsequent Bond film individually.

He had expressed his wish to leave the role after his fifth film, For Your Eyes Only, and the Bond producers were preparing to introduce a new actor when news broke that a rival 007 film, Never Say Never Again, was going into production with Sean Connery.

Nervous that the return of the original Bond would completely overshadow a new actor in the role, they approached Moore with a pay rise and larger profit-share. Brolin was released and Moore returned. Incidentally, he publicly declared “Six is enough”, although he would go on to also make a seventh.