'Spectre' actresses add spice to spy world - USA TODAY

'Spectre' actresses add spice to spy world - USA TODAY

Seen here in 'Skyfall,' Naomie Harris returns to star as Eve Moneypenny opposite Daniel Craig's James Bond in 'Spectre.'(Photo: Francois Duhamel)

The actresses of the James Bond movie Spectre â€" Monica Bellucci, Léa Seydoux, Stephanie Sigman and Naomie Harris â€" take pride in continuing the legacy of femme fatales and female agents played by everyone from Ursula Andress and Honor Blackman to Famke Janssen and Halle Berry.

In Bellucci’s case, there had been interest in her joining the 007 franchise when “I was very young,” says the Italian actress. But “I take so much time to do things in life. I had my first child at 40 and my second child at 45 and now I’m a James Bond girl at 50.”

The Bond played in recent years by Daniel Craig has tended to be realistic and modern rather than campy and throwback, and so it goes with his female foils.

“The women in this film have a very strong position,” says Seydoux, who plays the British agent’s love interest Madeleine Swann.

A continuation of the story from Sam Mendes’ 2012 hit Skyfall, Spectre features a mysterious missive from Bond’s past that crops up and sends him on a rogue mission to ferret out a nefarious international organization.

When Bond fans meet Madeleine on this adventure, they’ll be surprised by her character’s depth and personality, Seydoux says. Her doctor also holds a whopper of a secret. “She's quite unexpected. She’s strong â€" not like him, but she’s powerful. And they need each other to resolve their problems.”

Bond also has a romantic entanglement with the older Lucia Sciarra, the Italian widow played by Bellucci, who sees the two characters representing diff erent kinds of femininity.

In 'Spectre,' Monica Bellucci stars as an Italian woman who meets James Bond (Daniel Craig) after the murder of her Mafioso husband. (Photo: Jonathan Olley)

Madeleine is strong and independent, and “wants to be equal to men” like Bond, Bellucci says. “Lucia is a woman from the past. She comes from a world where men have the only power.”

Harris returns with a more action-packed take on Eve Moneypenny, an iconic supporting player in Bond lore, who has grown up since Skyfall. Her relationship with Craig’s hero has changed, and in Spectre, there's a mutual bond and respect between the two.

That relationship comes into play when the other agents at MI6 wonder whether he’s lost his mind as Bond goes lone wolf.

“Moneypenny knows what it’s like to have been in the field and the demands of that profession,” Harris says. “They’re demands that make it difficult to sleep at night sometimes, and Bond knows of anyone, Moneypenny really understands that. That’s important to him and that’s why he chooses her to open up to rather than anyone else.”

As the mysterious Estrella, Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman feels the pressure of playing opposite Bond.

"That makes me nervous because that’s on me â€" I didn’t have this before," says Sigm an, who began her movie career five years ago. "It feels strange, but when you’re not nervous, it’s boring. If you’re nervous because of something, it’s probably worth it."

Bellucci sees 007’s recent women reflecting the revolutionary thinking that surrounds the spy franchise now.

Earlier in the 53-year-old movie series, the fan-favorite secret agent was a man in control who seduced all the Bond girls, but there's more respect for women these days, as well as a deeper sense of storytelling, she says.

“He’s a James Bond who’s looking inside himself. He’s a James Bond who kills but is looking for death,” the actress says. “It’s a struggle and because of that he becomes darker but at he same time more mysterious and even sexier.â €

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Christoph Waltz may be sitting in the shadows of this 'Spectre' trailer, but as the newest James Bond villain, he's sure to be a highlight of the upcoming film. VPC

'Spectre' actresses add spice to spy world - USA TODAY
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