Pam Grier Explains Why She Turned Down James Bond ‘Octopussy’ Movie Role
Actress Pam Grier is sharing why she turned down a role in the James Bond movie Octopussy back in 1983 and why she felt like being a Bond girl in the film felt like an afterthought.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Grier, who is known for being the leading lady in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 crime drama Jackie Brown, explained that the role in Octopussy was not motivating and she was simply uninterested.
"My agents had me meet with the Broccoli family, and I'm going, 'I'm not available.' They looked at me and said, 'Well, why are you here?' I go, 'I don't know. My agent told me to come meet.' But I just wanted to do really in-depth character pieces that weren't predictable.
She added, “I just felt to be a Bond girl would be: What am I going to do? Am I going to help rescue him? Is he rescuing me? A Bond girl is an afterthought, a CliffsNote, perhaps. I asked, 'Am I challenging Bond? Am I out to kill him? Will I kill him before he kills me?' They hadn't thought of that. I gave them other ideas, which were much more profound and interesting than what they were doing.”
Grier’s acting credits also include Coffy, Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe back in 1998 for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical” for her role in Jackie Brown.
