Bond girl Lana Wood talks about Sean Connery affair

Former Bond girl Lana Wood, who played Plenty O'Toole in the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever", as given a lengthy interview to the Daily Mail where she talks about her life, career and family.

Of note to 007 historians is her first-hand account of the Connery affair, and her feelings on having her part cut substantially in the editing room.

So who made the first move? "He did. I was never that forward. We went out to dinner, then met some of his friends, then went for a walk, and you know. We actually started having an affair before filming began, but we kept it secret. Neither of us was married at the time, but it still isn’t done to be public about it. I remember being very embarrassed when we had to do the love scenes, because we were trying not to let people know You want to be a good actress, but for it not to seem too convincing."



"I think anyone would be hard-pushed to resist Sean. I do find it funny that I felt such a need to be honest and upfront with him, telling him that I couldn’t keep seeing him once we finished filming. As if he was even thinking about that! He was probably laughing away to himself. "

No prizes for guessing who she thinks made the best Bond: "Sean. Every time. I do love Daniel Craig, too, though. Sean was a ladies man, but there was an edge to him that the character required, then. He didn’t have the softness that some of the other Bonds had. The others were fairly lacking, I think. Until Daniel Craig. The bonus with Craig is that he doesn’t have to wear a toupe for the part. "He hated it," she laughs. "He absolutely hated having to wear it."



On the subject of the 'Bond girl curse', where careers come to a screeching halt after their appearance opposite 007 (something that is somewhat overplayed by the media), she said, "It is true that the Bond role didn’t open the doors I maybe thought it would. In fact, it didn’t open any doors at all. All I was offered were sexpot roles, and you can’t be doing those for ever. I did suffer from being stereotyped."

"We were incredibly well looked-after on the set. I filmed in Las Vegas, and then Palm Springs, but glamorous it wasn’t. I had to be thrown into a pool at 3am, then go through the rigmarole of getting my hair and make-up redone when the director wanted another take. At the time, I was mortified at my part in the film. A lot of my scenes were cut, but I didn’t know it until I saw the film. It felt like I bent over to pick up my popcorn and Plenty was dead. I was not a happy camper. I recall thinking: 'Is this what I’ve traveled all over the world promoting?’"

"For a long time, I thought I’d made a mistake with the character, but no longer. Now, when my life revolves around looking after my grandchildren, if I get a Bond-related invite, I jump at the chance."

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