Lois Chiles reflects on her time as a Bond girl in the Moore era

At the time Bond girls had a less-than-perfect reputation. They were often accused of being one-dimensional, eye-candy, etc and Chiles, the NY Times reminds us, came to 007 in the midst of a respectable career, having appeared in the now-classic pictures “The Way We Were” and “The Great Gatsby.”

"You have to realize this was the 1970s and women were very upset about being portrayed as sexual objects," says Chiles" So becoming a Bond girl was not necessarily desirable. There was also this stigma that this was the peak and you were never going to work again. That was painful to hear."

But there was a silver lining: "In a way, Holly was a bridge to the future. The previous Bond film, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” was fabulous but Barbara Bach’s character was far more sexual than Holly. Wearing that yellow spacesuit during much of the movie didn’t make me very alluring, and some fans were disappointed. But it was their concession to the women’s movement."

She has positive hopes for newcomer and "Skyfall" star, Berenice Marlohe, saying that Bond films, “take you around the world both literally and metaphorically. It’s become such a big franchise. “Skyfall” will be a springboard for her because she’ll now be known worldwide and become a bankable commodity. I would tell her to enjoy the ride.”

Read the complete story at NYTimes.com

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