007 Travelers interview: Caroline Munro, Actress “The Spy Who Loved Me”

March 31, 2026 0 By 007 Travelers

Who: Caroline Munro, Actress (Naomi in “The Spy Who Loved Me“, 1977)

When: 27th of March 2026

Caroline Jane Munro (born 16 January 1949) is an English actress, model and singer known for her many appearances in horror, science fiction and action films of the 1970s and 1980s. She gained prominence within Hammer and horror circles, starring in “Dracula AD 1972” and “Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter” (1974), garnering a cult following for her films. She also acted in “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” (1973) and “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977). In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards’ Monster Kid Hall of Fame. (Wikipedia)

007 Travelers met Caroline Munro at a hotel in Helsinki, Finland. Caroline looks great, is really friendly and easy to approach and interview. She is a good listener and answers questions extensively, bringing many perspectives to the answers.

Caroline Munro
Photo by: 007 Travelers

You entered the Bond world already in 1967 and played a small role in Bond parody “Casino Royale” ten years earlier than “The Spy Who Loved Me” came out. You were only 17 – 18 years old. Do you have any special memories from filming “Casino Royale”?

Yeah, I think I was 17 at the time, I was so young. And it was an extra part. I can’t say it was exactly a role, but I was one of the extras with all the other ladies, but I was the youngest, I think, at the time. And it was a thrill to watch Woody Allen, David Niven and Ursula (Andress), these extraordinary actors working. And the other girls were all older. There was shooting of “The Dirty Dozen” (1967) at the same time in MGM studios. And the girls wanted to go and watch all these gorgeous men (actors of “The Dirty Dozen“) in lunchtime and they said, “come on Caroline, let’s all go to and see the men”. And I said “no, I actually don’t want to go and see the men. I’d rather sit here and watch the actors working (actors of “Casino Royale“), because I had no formal training. I didn’t go to drama school or anything. I thought I was going to do art. You know, dyslexic person didn’t ever think of acting as a career. So, it’s all a happy accident. So yeah, I feel very blessed to have done it. And wearing Paco Rabanne, which was very cool at the time. It was kind of a bizarre production. How many directors…? Five, six…. Yeah, “Casino Royale“, I found it fascinating. There were a couple of small, tiny bits before, in different films with Alberto Sordi, Italian director, but it (Casino Royale) was a huge production, and they must have spent, I don’t know, back in the day, millions and millions of pounds getting all these huge actors, wonderful, amazing sets. They took over almost the whole of the studios of MGM. I didn’t notice any disagreements going on. You know, I didn’t notice any problems on set. So, I found “Casino Royale” was a really good learning curve for me as a young actress.

How about “The Spy Who Loved Me” then?

“The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) was amazing. I was so lucky to be invited to do that. It was Cubby (Albert R. Broccoli) who had seen some of the big posters I’d done in big billboards in the UK, and he asked me to go into his office, and I went in, we had a lovely interview, very informal. He was so down to earth. Cubby was lovely. He was just very normal, very grounded. He was a very kind man. I went for the interview, and I went back home thinking that was a nice meeting and then my agent phoned up maybe two days later and he said,” You’ve got the part of Naomi”. I was surprised. I said, “Have I”? He said, “Yes you have”. So, he was delighted. But at the same time, I’d been offered the part of Ursa in “Superman: The Movie” (1978). So that was a slight dilemma on my agent’s part. He said, “What do you think”? I said, “Well I have no idea, what do you think”? And he thought we knew about Bond. You know we knew Roger (Moore). We knew Lewis Gilbert was going to be the director. So, he said Bond. So, I chose Bond and I’m so pleased I did. Cause it was a nice little part, not too big and I could kind of play with it and make it my own. And Sarah Douglas, who did take Ursa’s part, was amazing in “Superman“. I couldn’t have done it the way she did. She was perfect for the part. I wouldn’t have cast me as Ursa, but she was made for that part. So, I luckily did Naomi. And she’s been my friend for many, many years now, which is very sweet. So yeah, I love playing her. She was fun.

Working with Roger was a dream because he was so giving and so fun. And the crew around loved him. He was just extraordinary to work with. We got very bad weather the first week in Sardinia. It rained and we’ve gone there for the sun and the speed boats and the helicopters, but it was really bad weather… I think was about the 6th day, the sun (came out). Claude Renoir, who was our DP said “I think we can shoot today. We can shoot!” We were so excited. We shot that day in sunshine which was lovely. So, I had the best time working on that film. Amazing memories. Happy memories of working with Roger and as I said, he was so giving as a person. I think he was incredibly modest and self-deprecating. I got the feeling he had what they call “impostor syndrome”. He didn’t feel he could do the job, but boy oh boy was he good. And if you see “The Man Who Haunted Himself” (1970). He was great, wasn’t he? And such a good actor. I think he didn’t feel that confident. It’s just my thought. But he was amazing for me. He was just an extraordinary actor and every actor or actresses worked with him had no bad word to say about him because he was a beautiful man, sweet, sweet man. And funny. Easy to work with.

Naomi (Caroline Munro) with James Bond (Roger Moore) in “*The Spy Who Loved Me*” (1977)

There is no Naomi in screenwriter Christopher Wood’s novelization of “The Spy Who Loved Me”. The helicopter pilot in the book is Jaws. Do you know if this character change was done in a later phase of pre-production?

I really don’t know. I really didn’t know it all. I’m not sure, but that’s interesting. So, Jaws was going to be the in the helicopter… Wow, so they must just swapped genders. I think it makes more sense in a way cause Jaws was consistent and he went on to make the other film. (Moonraker). Perfect Richard (Kiel).

You have made many movies around the world. What is your favorite place where you have visited?

I’m lucky enough to be asked to travel to lovely film festivals like this. Night Visions. So it’s my first time here in Finland, Helsinki, and I’m struck by the architecture, which is so, so beautiful. So yes, I’m lucky enough to travel quite a bit and have done it during my career. Now I feel very fortunate because I think travelling is one of the most exciting and delightful things that you can do. It really is because you learn so much more about different cultures and I love meeting people. I’m a bit of a talker, I’ve had some beautiful locations where I’ve actually shot films. I loved Rome. I got to work in Rome on “Starcrash” (1978) with Luigi Cozzi and “The Black Cat” (1989) again with Luigi. So, I loved Rome. Stayed there quite a long time. We worked at Cinecitta, in the famous Italian Film Studios. And again, Madrid, I love Spain. I did a Western in 1968 called “A Talent for Loving” (1969), and that was way back then with Richard Widmark and Cesar Romero. I love Madrid. And then went back and we shot (“The Golden Voyage of) Sinbad” there all around. Madrid in the studios, but also Mallorca. And then we shot it film called “Vampyres” (2015) And that was really interesting. So, I feel so blessed and so lucky to actually get to work in these locations. Visit them and meet the people and try the food.

What is the place you have not been, but would like to visit?

I’ve never been here in Finland before. My first time in Helsinki and I’m very impressed I must say. The architecture, the buildings, stunning…. I’ve been to Moscow and it has touches of wonderful ornate buildings, being there reminds me of this. Several of the buildings with churches or the wonderful domed buildings, I think touches of that. So, the architecture is beautiful. People in Finland are just so friendly too, and they all speak English.

I’ve never really been to the East. I kind of like to go somewhere that I’ve never been before. But obviously at the moment, with everything in the world going on… it’s so sad. Should not be happening. Not what we want. We just want peace out there. We’ve been gifted with this beautiful world to live in and we’re so… whether it be climate change or, you know, whatever is happening, is not good. We’re losing touch. I think for me, during COVID, people were much more caring about the other people, they seemed to reach out, and everybody was in it together.

I’ve been to Japan, Australia, Canada. I love Canada, the States, I’ve been there a lot. Somewhere really unusual I’d like to go to, and I don’t quite know where. Maybe Lapland. I’ve never been to see Father Christmas. And see the reindeer. Lapland would be a nice place.

What message do you think that you would want to send to young women around the world? (This question was asked by a young woman from the 007 Travelers family who participated in the interview.)

You have to be in it for the right reason. Very general thing, to just young women overall, and my girls. They are in their 30s, one younger. Just got to be true to yourself really, at the end of the day, and don’t do anything you feel is not what your gut says. You know, you got instinct. I think we still rely on that. If you can find your passion, things that you know that you really enjoy and that’s your happy place, I think that’s vital. I had no idea what my passion particularly was, say at 16. But don’t let anything stop you if you want to try and do that. And my main thing is, don’t you have to just stay true to who you are and always try and be yourself as much as you can be… We can only be what we are. We are only human. We will have the same needs and wants, and I think one of the greatest things that men and women have is humanity, being kind and treating others as you’d want to be treated yourself. So that would be my simple message.

Career wise, I don’t really know, I’m not sure. But I think you gotta stay grounded. Cause we only get one go at life, as far as we know. I’m going to come back as a helicopter pilot next time. 😊 But this time you got to just be, do what you want to do. I know it’s essential. In my life, if there’s something I haven’t wanted to do, if it’s worth wise or I feel I can’t give it what it deserves… If I don’t feel I’m the right person, say it’s a part in a film or something, I think no, I won’t. I won’t be good enough for that. I won’t be the right person. So it is coming back to the gut always.