What is it with Bond film titles? No Time To Die was a classic misleading tease, when Daniel Craig’s secret agent ended up scattered in actual smithereens across the Faroe Islands.
Die Another Day was certainly true for Halle Berry, who had a near-death experience on the film set.
Mind you, many watching men (and women) probably suffered some form of heart failure when she slinkily strode out of the ocean in that orange bikin.
The homage to Ursula Andress’ Dr No beach scene instantly became iconic, and fans can enjoy Berry’s feisty Bond girl Jinx on ITV today (and Catch Up).
She has publicly declared that Brosnana will always be “my Bond” and not just for his on-screen talents.
Berry recreated the Die Another Day bikini scene in 2020 and this year, at 57, has posted a series of stunning shots on her Instagram.
Her Bond Girl was part of a powerfully shifting movement away from the temptation to see them as mainly decoration (although the likes of Honor Blackman might disagree with that).
Berry said: “The challenge was to stay toe to toe with him (Brosnan). Always, while we were shooting, pushing the envelope, asking the writers, how can she be even tougher, how can she be even stronger, how can she be even more his intellectual equal?”
Berry certainly held her own when she went toe to toe, however, it was when she was on top and underneath that the trouble started.
However independent and capable they may be, it’s still inevitable that (most) women in the Bond movies end up in bed with the suave super spy.
Berry later revealed that, to her eternal embarrassment, it became one of the least sexy moments of her entire career.
Brosnan, himself, took the blame for what happened, although he redeemed himself by effectively saving her life.
Brosnan said: “She was on top, then I was on top then she was on top. And I made her laugh and the fig went down the wrong way. I said, ‘Are you alright?” Realising there was a problem, “I got behind her and I did something… I just smacked her on the back.”
Taking a leaf from Roger Moore’s typically self-effacing style, he played down what happened but Berry explained: “I’m supposed to be all sexy, trying to seduce him with a fig and I ended up choking on it…
“He had to do the Heimlich (manoeuvre)… So not sexy… You should have seen it. James Bond knows how to Heimlich! He was there for me, He will always be one of my favourite people in the whole world.”
