Iconic Bond girls through the years

French actress Lea Seydoux, 29, and Italian star Monica Belluci, 50, will be sizzling up the screen as Bond girls in the new James Bond adventure Spectre, the 24th official Bond movie.

Spectre, named after a global criminal organisation featured in the early Bond films, begins shooting on Monday, in Mexico City, Rome and Tangier.

Seydoux and Belluci, who will be starring alongside Britain's Daniel Craig, join a league of women who have become famous for playing the villain or love interest of British secret service agent James Bond in the movie franchise.

Life! rounds up a few iconic Bond girls from the past 23 Bond movies.

1. Ursula Andress

Who can forget that scene where Swiss-American actress walked up on the beach in a sexy white bikini? Andress became an instant sex symbol as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film Dr No (1962), for which she won a Golden Globe award. She also starred as Vesper Lynd in the Bond-parody Casino Royale (1967).

2. Honor Blackman

It is easy to stand out as a Bond girl, especially if your name happens to be Pussy Galore. English actress Blackman sizzled in the bond film Goldfinger (1964) as Bond's personal pilot and leader of an all-female team of pilots known as Pussy Galore's Flying Circus.

3. Michelle Yeoh

One of the few Asian women to play a prominent supporting role in a Bond film. Malaysian actress Yeoh played Chinese spy Wai Lin in the film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) alongside actor Pierce Brosnan.

4. Izabella Scorupco

One of the most memorable Bond girls from the 1990s, Polish-Swedish actress played Bond girl Natalya Simonova in GoldenEye (1997), a skilled programmer who helps Bond in his mission.

5. Barbara Bach

The American actress plays Bond girl Anya Amasova, a sexy Soviet KGB agent investigating the theft of two submarines. Her attraction to Bond is cut short when she discovers he killed her lover.

6. Carole Bouquet

French actress Bouquet played Bond girl Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only (1981), a role that is more integral to the story plot compared to female roles in other Bond movies. In the movie, she witnesses the brutal murder of her parents by a hitman, whom she later tracks down and kills with a crossbow.

7. Eva Green

Another French actress to play a sex siren in a Bond film, Eva Green plays Vesper Lynd, an agent assigned to supervise Bond and finance him in a high stakes poker game in the movie Casino Royale (2006).

This article was first published on December 5, 2014.
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