Jane Seymour Birthday: The Actress Who Escaped The 'Bond Girl Curse' By Changing Her Accent
In 1988, she won an Emmy Award for her role in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World. She was last seen in the TV show, The Kominsky Method, and the movie, Little Italy. Her upcoming projects include, The War with Grandpa and Friendsgiving. She has said that 40 years on and people still approach and ask her about her performance in the James Bond film.
The beautiful Jane Seymour turns 69 today. As the actress celebrates her birthday, we are going to talk about one fact about her that is not talked about enough. Jane was the eighth Bond Girl. She featured in the James Bond movie, Live and Let Die, in 1973, opposite Roger Moore. And, she, is one of the very few actresses to have escaped the Bond Girl curse. In the history of 007 movies, over 50 actresses have played the femme fatale opposite the British agent. And only a handful of them has had a successful career after that, and the rest have either seen a downfall after that or disappeared into oblivion, for instance, Daniela Bianchi, Mie Hama. And that is called the curse of Bond Girl. No Time To Die: Billie Eilish Unveils the Title Track of Daniel Craig's James Bond Movie.
Tanya Roberts was cautious of featuring in A View To Kill, opposite Roger Moore in 1985. "I sort of felt like every girl who'd ever been a Bond Girl had seen their career go nowhere, so I was a little cautious," Roberts said in an explosive interview 30 years later. She warned the Bond Girls of Spectre - Léa Seydoux and Monica Bellucci - that classic spy film left her pigeon-holed and lacking in movie offers.
But things went very differently for Jane Seymour. She did not succumb to the so-called curse. She featured in Live and Let Die, as a newbie, and went on to have a flourishing career. How? By changing her accent. No Time To Die Trailer: Daniel Craig's Last Outing as James Bond Looks Grand, Rami Malek's Mysterious Villain Heightens Intrigue (Watch Video).
In an interview, she opened up that after playing Solitaire in the James Bond film, it was not tough for her to get roles. "I met Renée Valente, who was a casting director at the time. And she said, 'If you can lose your English accent, you would do very well in America.' "
Seymour worked on her American accent and moved to LA from England. "I came to America with no work permit, no agent, nowhere really to live, and within six weeks I got my first role," she revealed.
It was in the 1976 mini-series Captain and the Kings. "Basically, I worked consistently and usually with a different American accent every time," she added.
Here is The Actress in Live and Let Die:
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2020 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).