'70s star Pam Grier reveals why she turned down James Bond Octopussy role

1970’s star Pam Grier has revealed why she turned down a serious role within the 1983 Bond movie Octopussy.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the Foxy Brown star, who’s now 73, defined she was afraid taking over a Bond woman role would not go away her with a lot to her title.

“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,” she stated.

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Pam Grier in Foxy Brown (1974) — Grier within the 1974 movie Foxy Brown. The actress admitted she turned down the prospect to play a Bond woman as a result of she did not suppose the character had substance. (American International Pictures)

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Grier met with the movie’s producers and stated she pushed them on what her role as Octopussy – which was finally performed by Maud Adams – could be.

“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,” she stated. “I gave them other ideas, which were much more profound and interesting than what they were doing.

“I simply wished to do actually in-depth character items that weren’t predictable,” Grier added. “I turned down all the pieces.”

James Bond film Octopussy (1983) starring Roger Moore and Maud Adams. — Octopussy was launched in 1983 and starred Roger Moore as James Bond and Maud Adamas as Octopussy. (MGM)

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Grier, who was on the time greatest recognized for her wave of profitable ’70s movies together with Sheba, Baby, Foxy Brown, Coffy and Black Mama White Mama went on to star in numerous different movies, arguably not as profitable as Octopussy.

These included The Vindicator, Stand Alone, and The Package.

But the star received her fame again when she starred in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Jackie Brown in 1997.

Actress Pam Grier visits SiriusXM Studios on October 26, 2022 in New York City — Grier later starred in her most well-known role to-date, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. (Getty)

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Grier revealed simply previous to working with Tarantino, per The Guardian, that although he had been determined to work along with her for Jackie Brown, his fascination along with her hadn’t appeared when she auditioned for his earlier movie, Pulp Fiction.

Despite giving a “nice studying” according to Tarantino, Grier lacked chemistry with her scene co-star Eric Stoltz.

In her words, however, she said she was simply “too tall” for Stoltz.

But in the conversation, Grier graciously noted that Tarantino had bookmarked her name for later.

“[Tarantino] actually wanted to see a chemistry with us,” Grier said. “I did not give him what he wanted, which was nice as a result of Quentin stated, ‘I nonetheless need to work along with her’ and it was to my benefit, presumably, possibly subliminally.”

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