20. Aki
Played by: Akiko Wakabayashi
Appears in: You Only Live Twice
Aki was positioned to be the primary Bond Girl until a poison-wielding SPECTRE assassin entered the picture. Had she lived, she would have been an excellent companion to Bond. She’s an assassin, a skilled driver, and she’s more than dedicated to her mission. She might not make it to the credits, but as far as beautiful and ill-fated as Bond Girls are concerned, Aki is one of the better examples.
19. Lucia Sciarra
Played by: Monica Bellucci
Appears in: Spectre
Much ado was made out of Lucia being the franchise’s oldest Bond Girl as if fifty-year-old Monica Bellucci isn’t still Monica Bellucci. Unfortunately, the popular interest in her age distracts from the fact that Lucia is pretty damn compelling in her limited amount of screentime. She keeps her cards close to her chest, and it’s never made clear just how much she might have been scheming when she sent Bond away to meet SPECTRE. Though Bond does save her from death, she’s far from a damsel in distress.
18. Holly Goodhead
Played by: Lois Chiles
Appears in: Moonraker
Holly is one of the more brainy Bond Girls, a fact that initially confuses 007. But once he gets on board — quite literally, on their journey to space — it’s clear to all involved that Holly is one of the better Bond Girls to come from the Moore era. She’s a CIA agent tracking the suspicious goings-on at Drax Industries and as a welcome surprise, this is one example of a Bond Girl being on a similar mission to Bond in which her skillset is put to good use. Holly knows how to pilot the space shuttle, not Bond. We salute you, Dr. Goodhead!
17. Miranda Frost
Played by: Rosamund Pike
Appears in: Die Another Day
We’re big fans of Rosamund Pike ‘round these here parts, and despite the faults of the movie, her breakout role is one of the highlights of Die Another Day. Miranda Frost is a double-crossing, dangerously competitive fencer and MI6 agent who’s as cold as her name suggests. She back-stabs and is in turn front-stabbed, a fate she probably deserved, but she sure was fun along the way.
16. Solitaire
Played by: Jane Seymour, partially voiced by Nikki van der Zyl
Appears in: Live and Let Die
Solitaire is a clairvoyant Bond Girl with an enviable wardrobe and even more enviable Tarot cards. What’s not to love? Alright, so she’s a little bit more style over substance as she’s relegated to a pretty passive role, but when the style is this good, we’re not gonna complain. Still, had she possessed just a bit more character depth, we predict that she could have ranked even higher.
15. Natalya Simonova
Played by: Izabella Scorupco
Appears in: GoldenEye
Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova (say that five times fast) is a Level 2 programmer and quite possibly the only person on earth who doesn’t know that Alan Cumming’s Boris is a bad guy. She sees the best in people! That’s nice! A refreshingly competent reset after Bond’s break from the big screen, Natalya holds her own and helps save the day — which is more than most Bond Girls can say!
14. Anya Amasova
Played by: Barbara Bach
Appears in: The Spy Who Loved Me
Anya, a.k.a. Agent XXX, is essentially one small step for womankind, one giant leap for Bond Girls. She’s Russia’s go-to superspy with a personal vendetta against Bond and the ice-cold dedication required to carry it out — until she falls for him. Though her journey towards love interest is pretty predictable, along the way Anya shows that she’s smart, stealthy, and more than capable in the field. She might not be our favorite Russian spy, but she’s certainly an improvement over Bond’s fair share of shrieking damsels.
13. Andrea Anders
Played by: Maud Adams
Appears in: The Man With the Golden Gun
Yet another “mistress of the Big Bad,” Andrea is reluctantly on the arm of the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, who only has sex with her “before he kills” as a good luck charm. Desperately looking for a way out, Andrea asks 007 to kill Scaramanga and set her free: a fantasy that also seems to do the trick for Bond, who dismisses the hidden Mary Goodnight while Andrea changes in the bathroom. Naturally, Scaramanga learns of the affair and kills Andrea. A woman without a lot of options, her defection speaks volumes of her character.
12. May Day
Played by: Grace Jones
Appears in: A View to a Kill
The fantastically fashionable (and deadly) companion/lover/bodyguard of the psychopathic billionaire Max Zorin, May Day is a force to be reckoned with. May Day and Bond’s relationship is more complicated than the other entrants’ on this list: May Day is fully aware of Bond’s tried and true “getting in bed with the enemy” shtick but sleeps with him anyway (during the shoot, Grace Jones presented a scandalized Roger Moore with a dildo). For all her intimidation and radical dealings, May Day winds up an emotional mess when Zorin (inevitably) betrays her. While she winds up being instrumental in foiling Zorin’s scheme, May Day’s softening is bittersweet (a man shouldn’t break you like this, girl!).
11. Domino Derval
Played by: Claudine Auger, voiced by Nikki van der Zyl
Appears in: Thunderball
The French mistress of high-ranking SPECTRE operative Emilio-Largo, Domino is the total Bond Girl package: smart, funny, brave, and beautiful. Domino’s captive status gives Bond something to chase, but she’s far from submissive, turning proper vengeful upon learning the truth about her brother’s disappearance. A girl who can shoot a man in the back with a harpoon and who’s also down for scuba sex? Must be Bond’s lucky day!
Related Topics: Bondathon, James Bond
