The one scene that daunted Halle Berry the most: “Who really wants to be compared?”
In 1962, shell diver Honey Ryder sashayed out of the ocean in Kingston, Jamaica, wearing a now-iconic ivory bikini. As she strode onto the beach and shook her wet hair, she came across a certain secret agent whose eyes were directly fixed on her. In truth, the eyes of audiences all over the world were also fixed on Ryder, and the scene went down in history as a sexual awakening for a generation. Fast forward 40 years, though, and when Halle Berry found herself shooting a very similar scene in another James Bond picture, she couldn’t help admitting it was a daunting task.
We are, of course, talking about Ursula Andress’ unforgettable entrance in 1962’s Dr. No, the very first James Bond movie. The movie shot Andress and Sean Connery to superstardom, and in 2020, she had nothing but praise for her hairy-chested Scottish co-star. The actor and model revealed, “He was very protective towards me; he was adorable, fantastic. He adored women. He was undoubtedly very much a man!”
Andress added, “I didn’t know Sean, and I thought it would be my first film and maybe my last, but instead, it took off. The chemistry between us worked, and it was the perfect combination.”
Interestingly, though, Andress did admit to feeling trepidation before they shot the beach scene. She confessed, “I was a little scared, we were on the set in Kingston and I didn’t know Jamaica. We first met in the breakfast room of the little hotel where we were staying, he was on his own at a table and I was a little timid.”
Four decades later, Halle Berry experienced a similar sense of apprehension as she prepared to film her own iconic beach scene in Lee Tamahori’s Die Another Day. As her character, NSA agent Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson, emerged from the water in Havana, wearing a striking orange bikini, the moment undoubtedly mirrored the excitement Sean Connery’s Bond felt when Ursula Andress made her unforgettable entrance. The scene was an intentional homage to Andress’ classic moment in Dr. No, but the prospect of recreating such a legendary image understandably made Berry nervous.
When reflecting on the scene, Berry told the BBC, “Initially, it was very daunting. I mean, who really wants to be compared directly to another actress or human being? So taking on the challenge of recreating a moment that has really gone down in Bond history – knowing I would be compared to another woman – was a little bit daunting, and I hoped that I could just do it justice.”
In the end, Jinx’s big scene wound up being extremely well-received by fans of the franchise, so the filmmakers succeeded in their task. Amusingly, though, Berry admitted in 2021 that choosing her bikini for the scene was stressful. She revealed: “So many bikinis and so many belts! This looks effortless, but this was a whole situation. Getting this little bathing suit right; choosing the right colour and the right fit.”
All in all, it seems that everyone involved in the production knew the scene had the potential to leave a lasting impression, much like Ursula Andress’ iconic moment. With that awareness came a collective effort to ensure every detail was perfect, from Berry’s entrance to the nods to the original scene. Fortunately, all the meticulous planning paid off, and the scene became a memorable homage that stood the test of time.
