James Bond actress Naomie Harris has revealed she had some doubts before signing onto the film franchise and admitted she was left "confused" by the audition process.
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Chatting in a recent episode of the podcast, No Time to Die: The Official James Bond Podcast, the Moneypenny star, who made her debut in the popular movies in 2012's Skyfall, explained how she originally thought she was auditioning to play a Bond girl, which left her feeling hesitant.
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"I have to say everything has been a complete surprise because I was told initially that I was auditioning for the role of a Bond woman, so I had no idea that I was playing Moneypenny," she told podcast host James King, adding: "So I was just really confused at the time because I was kind of like 'I think I'm a bit old to play a Bond woman.'
She continued: "Now we know that's not true and any age can play a Bond woman, but at the time I was like 'I think I'm a bit old and I don't feel that I have the assets to play a Bond woman, I don't think that's me', so I was very confused by it all."
"But they kept calling me back and I got to my third re-call and I thought 'This isn't making any sense to me', and then Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson] and Sam Mendes [said to me], 'We just want to tell you you're auditioning for Moneypenny'.
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© Photo: RexNaomie Harris made her Bond debut in 2012's Skyfall
"And I said 'Oh that makes so much sense!' But at the time they didn't say she was going to evolve, I don't think anybody knew that I was going to last this many movies, I certainly didn't!"
The actress is gearing up to reprise the role for upcoming film, No Time to Die, which has been highly-anticipated given the multiple delays to its release due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The film will also see the likes of Javier Bardem, Ben Wishaw and Lea Seydoux and more reprise their roles alongside Daniel Craig, who will return for the final time as the titular character.
Listen to No Time to Die: The Official James Bond Podcast now across all major podcast platforms. James Bond: No Time to Die is released in cinemas from 30 September.
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