The “inappropriate” ‘Bond girl’ audition that wouldn’t fly today: “That is the way it was”
These days, a female actor auditioning for a role in a James Bond movie, whether it’s as a leading, supporting, or minor character, jumps through the same hoops as everybody else who wants to become part of the franchise’s next feature.
They run lines, audition, screen test, and do everything that’s typically associated with pitching yourself for an acting job. Needless to say, that wasn’t always the case, especially when the brain trust behind 007 had a habit of casting its women based almost exclusively on how attractive they were deemed to be.
While there are many former ‘Bond girls’ who have no issues with being remembered as objects of desire, eye candy, or conquest for the suave secret agent, others have voiced their regrets over their contributions to the long-running series or the detrimental effect it had on their careers.
Nikki van der Zyl was integral to the first few films as the dubbing artist for several of the notches on Bond’s bedpost, but she never appeared in the flesh because director Terence Young cold-heartedly told her that “you wouldn’t stop the traffic,” deeming her too unattractive to bring her talents to the screen.
She dubbed no less than 11 entries in the spy saga, too, but the powers-that-be didn’t think she was enough of a looker to get even a minor cameo appearance as a reward for her behind-the-scenes work. With that in mind, it’s not all that surprising to discover how Gloria Best beat out her competition.
She may have only made a brief outing in Goldfinger, but the way she was chosen is something that wouldn’t fly today, and remains indicative of how objectification was the order of the day among the key 007 creatives. With Cubby Broccoli in attendance, she didn’t have to do an awful lot to get the nod.
“The audition was us all being paraded up and down in a swimsuit, followed by a brief Q&A session,” she recalled to Retro Boy. “That was it! I was then told that I got it! I mean, looking back, some might say it was all inappropriate, but that is the way it was back then. Nobody thought anything about being paraded up and down in a swimsuit.”
It’s a fairly damning indictment to brush it off as the fashion of the time, since these were young women being asked to strip down to their skivvies and parade themselves around in front of a group of people, who you can guarantee were all men, with the one they found the most appealing getting a chance to strut their stuff in a 007 flick.
Any semblance of acting ability clearly wasn’t required, but at least Best doesn’t regret the way she snagged her Goldfinger gig.
