Madeline Smith has revealed she felt she had no choice but to perform nude scenes early in her career, though she insists she has no regrets because acting brought her a lifetime of opportunities.
Former Bond girl Madeline Smith has claimed she was pressured into filming nude scenes during the early years of her career.
The 77-year-old actress, who starred opposite the late Sir Roger Moore in 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die, claimed stripping off on screen was often expected of actresses at the time and that she was given little say in the matter.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, Madeline recalled being informed moments before a scene in the 1970 horror film The Vampire Lovers that she would be required to appear nude.
She said: “It was demanded of you. I mean, in The Vampire Lovers, it was demanded of me seconds before I did the scene. I had no choice, there was nothing in the contract.”
Despite her experience, Madeline stressed she does not look back on those moments with bitterness and feels fortunate to have enjoyed a successful career in film and television.
She explained: “I have been so fortunate. That’s why I will not moan about the taking off of the clothes and all that. I cannot. I was so lucky. I had such joy, and I loved every second of it.”
The actress also reflected on how dramatically the industry has changed since she first entered showbusiness in the 1960s, suggesting aspiring performers now face greater barriers to success.
She said: “It’s so difficult now for kids. You can go and be educated to your ears and still not getting any work. It’s almost impossible to get your foot in the door now and it was so easy in the 60s.”
Madeline’s comments come after the release of her memoir Bond Girl, in which she recounts encounters with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the height of her fame.
Among the stories featured in the book is her first meeting with Warren Beatty at director Roman Polanski’s 1968 wedding to Sharon Tate.
Madeline recalled the Hollywood actor telling her she was “the most beautiful girl” he had ever met before later inviting her to visit him at a friend’s home in London’s Mayfair.
Expecting a polite social call, the actress instead arrived to find Beatty lying naked while speaking on the telephone.
She wrote: “I was shown into his room. Warren was lying there stark naked and on the phone. I was absolutely terrified. I was a virgin. I thought we were going to have tea and cakes.”
The actress said Beatty asked for a cuddle, but she declined, insisting her definition of cuddling involved keeping clothes on.
Looking back at the era, Madeline admitted she was often shocked by what she described as the widespread culture of excess.
She said: “I am not saying I am a goody-two-shoes at all, because I’m not, but the levels of drug-taking and sexual excess were staggering looking back now.
“Men expected women to be even freer with their bodies, but I swam in the opposite direction.”
Madeline also contrasted her experiences with two James Bond stars. She remembered Roger Moore as the consummate gentleman during the making of Live and Let Die, but recalled politely rejecting an advance from Sir Sean Connery after the pair crossed paths in a Scottish hotel.
According to Madeline, Connery spotted her carrying a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky and jokingly suggested they retire to her room together.
She told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “He said to me, ‘Can I come in and run your bath with you and we’ll read Dostoevsky together?'”
Although she turned him down, Madeline insisted the encounter was harmless and cheeky rather than threatening.
She added: “I didn’t know what a man looks like. I said: ‘No.’ I knew what he wanted.
“He was just cheeky. Obviously, any other woman would say: ‘Come this way, close the door.’ He was very hurt.”
Former Bond girl Madeline Smith claims she had no choice but to film nude scenes
