Roger Moore - interview

Good day Sir Roger. Looking back, what was the most dangerous stunt you ever did?
Kissing Grace Jones.

Seriously though, were you ever in danger on the Bond set?
All the time, particularly on Friday when I tried to get paid. I always thought they would kill me off in the first couple of weeks, get the insurance money and start again with somebody else. But then I'd really get nervous towards the end when they had enough stuff in the can to put the film together, get the insurance money, and then shoot over the shoulder of somebody else.

Do you have any major scars from the Bond films?
Yes, I have a couple of holes in my rear end where most people [only] have one. I got blown up in The Spy Who Loved Me. I made the mistake of sitting in a chair instead of standing behind it. I thought it gave far more tension to the scene because the audience knows Curd Jürgens is going to file a missile at me. And I said, wouldn't it be better if I'm sitting in the chair rather than standing behind it? The chair had a metal back in it, so the explosion would not affect me, if I was quick enough to get out of the way. But they let the charge off just before I was ready to move so that was very painful. There was some smoke, flames, tears and stamping of feet.

Do you like Daniel Craig?
Yes he's very good.

He's very different to you.
Yes, but anyone would be different to me. He's reminiscent of Sean. He has the hard edge. He's really tough and there's stuff in it I couldn't have done and my stunt men wouldn't have done either. If they had tried to make us it would have been a case of "that's it boys, they're trying to kill us, we're off."

Is there something in common that all the Bond actors share?
I don't think you have to have anything particular to play the role, just be in the right place at the right time and be able to remember to say "my name is James Bond".

Are you adventurous in your real life?
Oh yes. I'm jumping out of planes all the time. Sometimes I don't even bother to have an airplane, I'll just jump. No, I'm not at all adventurous. I'm terribly cowardly.

Could you have done another Bond if you'd wanted to?
Yes, but I was getting too old. The leading ladies were younger than my granddaughter and I was creaking.

Of all the actors who played Bond, you seem to be the one most like him in real life.
Did you see The Saint? Did you see The Persuaders? Did you see Ivanhoe? I was the same in all of them.

What can we expect in your autobiography?
It's not tittle-tattle. As I say in the early pages of the book, if you want tittle-tattle get the News of the World. And I also say, if I can't say anything good about somebody, I don't think it's worth saying. So I don't say anything about Grace Jones.

What was the most challenging part of being 007?
Being able to win at backgammon playing [producer] Cubby Broccoli. No, the hardest part of playing Bond I think was purely physical: the locations, the amount of work that's put on the leading actor every day. And although he doesn't work as hard as the film crew, the film crew's faces are not on the screen and you're not allowed to put on the subtitles, "sorry, we shot this at five o'clock in the morning and he looks like shit."

What was the best part of being Bond?
Friday's getting paid. And I always rather liked the bedroom scenes. I felt we didn't have enough of those really.

You have a great sense of humour.
I'm a little devil. I think I find life to be very difficult to go through unless you had a sense of humour and being an actor and seeing yourself on screen you're going to be pretty miserable if you don't have a sense of humour, unless of course you're in love with yourself.

You will be visiting Australia shortly. Have you been before?
I don't think so. I think I'd definitely remember the toilet flushing the wrong way around. Do you have to sit on it differently?

Sir Roger Moore will appear in coversation with David Stratton at the Hayden Orpheum Cremorne, 7pm, Tue 18 Nov. Visit Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace for reservations.

Sir Roger's autobiography, My Word Is My Bond (HarperCollins), is out now.

A selection of Bond classics is released on Blu-ray on 12 Nov.

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