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Live and Let Die introduced the world to a new iconic James Bond, when Moore took over from Sean Connery after he had briefly returned in Diamonds Are Forever following George Lazenby’s shock exit. It had been a turbulent few years for the 007 franchise, but a new era was about to begin. After the gritty and rugged previous incarnations, Moore would bring a lighter more playful approach to the role with even the trailer merrily punning that the film would deliver “more, much Moore.” Seymour herself said: “Each one is uniquely right for that era… Roger was much more tongue-in-cheek and Austin Powers-ey.” And the fun extended to the action between the sheets.
The movie made a global star of teh eternally youthful Seymour, who turned 72 this week. She was just 20 when she received her big break in war drama The Only Way. Two years later, she was starring in the TV show The Onedin Line when she hit the big screen as the beguiling and mysterious Solitaire in Live And Let Die.
Seymour said: “They announced to the world’s press that it was me, that I’d got the role, and it was in every newspaper, on the cover for days. It was so bizarre”
The British star recalled how the film studio also wanted her to have a sexier profile for a promo article: “They hired this guy, Terry O’Neil, great photographer, to take my photographs and spend three days with me and he couldn’t find any salacious, sexy stuff because I’m playing a sex symbol, right? But I’m also playing a virgin. So he didn’t know what to say.”
Seymour added: “They wrote in this thing, ‘She loves to run naked through long grass’. So I got a call from my father, who’s a doctor, who said, ‘Darling, it’s a very good article but I’m a bit concerned about you running through long grass. And while we’re at it, in the book it says you’re being dragged behind a boat on a coral reef with sharks so I just want to mention those to you.'”
The coral reef scene Jane discussed was later used in For Your Eyes Only with a different Bond girl but she still ended up with the requisite Bond sex scene – although Moore put his own unique spin on it when it came to filming.
In the famous poppy field scene, they both thought one line in the script was rather ridiculous and worked each other up so much it was a struggle to complete filming.
Seymour said: “We couldn’t look each other in the eye without losing it completely. We ended up like a couple of teenagers and they actually banned me from the set.”
The actress also revealed how they both caught dysentery and were laid up, suffering greatly in a trailer when it was hit by a car in a freak accident.
They were both thrown onto the floor on top of each other and, once the shock wore off, yet again, they collapsed in fits of laughter.
Most of all, though, Moore was always a total gentleman. With so many horrific stories of actresses being abused in Hollywood, including Seymour herself, she spoke highly of how he constantly checked that she was safe on set.
She said: “Roger was fantastic to me. When I was in New Orleans or in Jamaica, he made sure every night that I was OK and safe, checked to see whom I was with, he’d include me in any social thing that happened.”
The friendship flourished over the following decades. Seymour last saw her friend in June 2016 at an event where they were able to catch up for 45 minutes away from the crowds.
After his death, she said: “I’m really glad I had that time with him. We talked about life and the past and took some fun pictures together. I’m sad (about Moore’s death), I’m really sad.”
