Just like crazy gadgets and classic villains are important to James Bond movies, so-called “Bond girls” have been crucial to the franchise’s success. Obviously society has changed quite a bit since Dr. No was released in 1962, and so have the roles these women have played in the adventures. They aren’t just a love interest to Bond anymore, though some are, of course, nor do all of them have ridiculous names though some definitely do. Really, it’s just all the women who have played important roles, throughout the years, like the 32 on this list.
Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder)
The O.G. Bond girl is Honey Ryder, played by Ursula Andress. Bond (Sean Connery) famously meets her as she strolls out of the ocean in a bikini on a small island owned by the titular Dr. No. It’s not only one of the most iconic moments of the Bond series, it’s one of the most famous in Hollywood history.
Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin)
Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh first came to Western cinema acclaim as a Bond girl. After years of success in Hong Kong, Yeoh’s Hollywood breakthrough came as Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond.
Barbara Bach (Anya Amasova)
Actor Barbara Bach is famous for playing a Bond girl in one of the best Roger Moore movies. Bach, who is the wife of Ringo Starr, played a Russian spy named Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me. Bach was, in fact, the spy who loved Bond. Or Bond was the spy who loved her. Both ways work. The same movie also features one of the best henchmen in Bond history, Jaws.
Shirley Eaton (Jill Masterson)
The third movie of the Bond franchise, Goldfinger, is pretty almost universally praised as the best of the series. It’s certainly the best of the Connery era, despite what some critics claim. Shirley Eaton plays Jill Masterson who meets her demise in one of the most famous scenes in the series when Bond finds her covered in gold paint after her death.
Tanya Roberts (Stacey Sutton)
Roger Moore’s final appearance as James Bond came in 1985’s A View To A Kill opposite Tanya Roberts who starred as Stacey Sutton. The late Roberts had a fairly short-lived career in the mid-80s before reviving it as a regular on That ’70s Show in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She’ll be forever remembered for her moments as a Bond girl.
Carey Lowell (Pam Bouvier)
Carey Lowell is best known for her two-season run as ADA Jamie Ross on Law & Order in the ’90s, but years before that, she was a Bond girl. Lowell played Pam Bouvier, a capable ex-army officer-turned-informant on the cartels Bond is chasing in the Timothy Dalton-as-Bond flick Licence To Kill.
Teri Hatcher (Paris Carver)
In 1997 Teri Hatcher was coming off an incredibly successful run as Lois Lane in the TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She parlayed that in a role as James Bond’s love interest in Tomorrow Never Dies, named Paris Carver.
Jane Seymour (Solitaire)
In the United States, Jane Seymour is probably best known as Dr. Michaela Quinn in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. About 20 years early, she starred as one of the best Bond girls ever, Solitaire, in the first Roger Moore-era Bond movie, Live and Let Die.
Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann)
Léa Seydoux actually starred in two James Bond movies, both featuring Daniel Craig as 007. In both Spectre and No Time To Die, she played Madeleine Swann. She also holds the distinction of being the only actress to play the mother of a James Bond child, which is revealed in the final movie of the Craig era, No Time To Die.
Halle Berry (Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson)
Before the 21st Century, the producers of the Bond series rarely picked huge stars as Bond girls. That wasn’t the case in 2002 when Halle Berry starred as Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day. Berry had just won an Academy Award and was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood when she played Jinx, who was every bit Bond’s equal in all ways.
Maud Adams (Andrea Anders And Octopussy)
Maud Adams is one of two women who have starred in two James Bond movies as Bond girls. Her first, Andrea Anders came in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun. Her second, and larger role, came as the titular Octopussy in the movie of the same name. Adams also holds the distinction of being the only one to have the same name as the movie. Pretty cool.
Famke Janssen (Xenia Onatopp)
While she’s best known these days for playing Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men movies, Famke Janssen also starred in one Bond movie, GoldenEye, as the ridiculously named assassin Xenia Onatopp. It’s one of the sillier names, but the character is all business.
Diana Rigg (Teresa di Vicenzo/Tracy Bond)
For many Brits, Diana Rigg is known for playing Emma Peel in the ’60s spy show The Avengers (no relation to the MCU). For many Americans, she’s best known as Olenna Tyrell on Game of Thrones. For Bond fans, she’ll always be Tracy Bond, James’ first wife, who he married in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the lone film starring George Lazenby as 007.
Gemma Arterton (Strawberry Fields)
While Quantum of Solace usually ranks pretty low overall among Bond aficionados, Gemma Arterton deserves a lot of praise for his work as Strawberry Fields. While Strawberry Fields is one of the silliest names in the canon, at least it’s not an innuendo.
Daniela Bianchi (Tatiana Romanova)
Daniela Bianchi is an Italian actress who brilliantly played a Soviet spy in From Russia With Love. Tatiana Romanova, the character Bianchi, set the standard for the capable foil to Bond, rather than a damsel in distress as Honey Ryder was in Dr. No.
Maryam D’Abo (Kara Milovy)
Timothy Dalton only got to play Bond in two films, but in one of him, he got to star opposite Maryam D’Abo, who played the classical musician Kara Milovy. The Living Daylights is, like the other Dalton movie, Licence To Kill is underrated, and along with that, D’Abo’s excellent performance.
Kim Basinger (Domino Petachi)
Okay, okay, so Never Say Never Again isn’t an official James Bond movie, but it does feature one of the biggest stars to ever play a Bond girl. Kim Basinger was already a big deal when she signed on to join Sean Connery in his return as 007 in the remake of Thunderball.
Denise Richards (Christmas Jones)
The producers of The World Is Not Enough took a lot of grief for casting Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones. Critics complained that she couldn’t be taken seriously as a doctor, or something. It was pure sexism because Richards was fine in the role and fit the mold of a Bond girl perfectly. Her stupid character name wasn’t her fault, either.
Eva Green (Vesper Lynd)
Vesper Lynd is one of two Bond girls who actually married the super spy. Eva Green plays Lynd in Casino Royale and like the other woman who married Bond, Tracy, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Lynd doesn’t make it to the end of the movie. She is killed in front of Bond in Venice in one of the most tragic endings to any Bond movie.
Grace Jones (May Day)
Without question, May Day, played by Grace Jones, in A View To A Kill is one of the most intimidating Bond girls. She’s bold and built like a truck. She’s a woman of few words, but she can intimidate with nothing more than a look. Grace Jones wasn’t in a ton of movies over her unique career, but maybe she should have been more based on this.
Jill St. John (Tiffany Case)
Jill St. John, who plays Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever has had a long career, going back to the 1950s. In 1971, she starred alongside Sean Connery in his return to the role of 007 and she holds the distinction of being the first American Bond girl.
Sophie Marceau (Elektra King)
Elektra King, played by Sophie Marceau, is a quintessential Bond girl. She’s both Bond’s lover and his enemy in The World Is Not Enough. As such, Marceau plays both vulnerable and vicious and the French actress nails both.
Bérénice Marlohe (Sévérine)
Skyfall is consistently ranked as one of the fans’ favorites and that’s in no small part to Bérénice Marlohe, who plays Sévérine. Marlohe hasn’t starred in many English-language films, in fact, Skyfall was her first, but you’d never know if from the French actor’s performance in the Bond universe.
Mie Hamna (Kissy Suzuki)
Let’s be honest, Kissy Suzuki has to be the silliest name ever. It’s just ridiculous. That doesn’t mean that actress Mie Hamna’s performance as the Japanese ninja/spy in You Only Live Twice was silly. The Japanese actress didn’t speak much English, but she left an impression on moviegoers, despite her lines being overdubbed.
Izabella Scorupco (Natalya Simonova)
Natalya Simonova, played by Polish actress Izabella Scorupco, is a stereotypical Bond girl who is a bit of a damsel in distress but turns out to be very capable when teamed with Bond. Scorupco. The multi-talent Scorupco is also a singer and even hosted one season of Sweden’s version of Top Model.
Ana De Armas (Palona)
We couldn’t have this list without Ana de Armas, but she doesn’t play a typical Bond girl. The character, Palona, is not Bond’s lover, nor is she his enemy. She’s his equal in many ways, as a green CIA agent sent to help Bond. De Armas is pretty darn awesome in the role, fighting side-by-side with 007. Of course, even before starring here, she was already a pretty big star.
Carole Bouquet (Melina Havelock)
At the end of The Spy Who Loved Me, the words “James Bond Will Return in For Your Eyes Only, but after the success of Star Wars, the producers of the franchise pivoted and made Moonraker instead to add some sci-fi to the series. Actress Carole Bouquet auditioned to be the Bond girl in that movie but lost out on the part. Luckily, she landed the role of Bond’s ally, Melina Havelock, in For Your Eyes Only when it was finally made.
Lois Chiles (Holly Goodhead)
Moonraker is… not James Bonds’ finest hour, but it’s not that bad either. One thing that no one can argue, Dr. Holly Goodhead is the dumbest name in the history of the franchise. Sure, there’s always been some sophomoric humor to Bond girl names, but actor Lois Chiles has the unfortunate luck of starring as the character with this over-the-top name.
Claudine Auger (Domino Derval)
French actress and model Claudine Auger played one of the most famous Bond girls in Thunderball. Her sultry performance set a new standard for the archetype. Auger, who played Domino in the movie, wasn’t in a lot of movies American audiences would recognize, but she did represent her native France in the Miss World pageant in the 1950s.
While she’s in the running for the silliest name, Plenty O’Toole doesn’t have plenty of screen time, lasting only a few minutes before being thrown out of a window of Bond’s hotel room in Diamonds Are Forever. She’s played by Lana Wood, sister of the late Natalie Wood.
Britt Ekland (Mary Goodnight)
Britt Ekland, who was once married to Peter Sellers, stars as Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun. Let’s be honest here, the writers of the movie were not kind to the character as the British agent isn’t a very smart or capable spy. That’s on the writers, not Ekland.
Cassandra Harris (Countess Lisl von Schlaf)
Australian actress Cassandra Harris had an interesting and tragic life. When she starred as Lisl von Schlaf in For Your Eyes Only, he husband in real life was none other than Pierce Brosnan. How’s that for meta? Sadly, Harris died of ovarian cancer at just age 43 in 1991. Her mother AND her daughter both died of the same disease in their 40s as well.