Susan Lucci found out she'd lost Bond role from Playboy
Susan Lucci found out she'd missed out on being cast as a Bond girl when she saw Kim Basinger on the cover of Playboy magazine.
Susan Lucci found out she'd missed out on being cast as a Bond girl from Playboy magazine.
The All My Children actress was in the running to play Domino Petachi opposite the late Sean Connery as James Bond in 1983's Never Say Never Again and even met with producer Barbara Broccoli in New York, but found out a few weeks later she hadn't got the part after Kim Basinger's role in the franchise was teased on the cover of the adult publication.
Susan told Today: "Well… yes. Well, I don't know how close I got. They saw two people in New York — one was Kim Basinger and one was me… It was a summer day. I went to the beautiful Broccoli townhouse… and I was so happy to be seen.
"Then a couple of weeks later, I was in the hair and makeup room of 'All My Children' — they handed me a copy of Playboy magazine, and there was Kim Basinger. And I said, ‘Oh, OK then.… Kim is getting the part. It won't be me.’"
Kim appeared on the February 1983 cover of Playboy as "007's new woman".
The 79-year-old actress previously urged women of her age not to feel defined by their decades or to "count [themselves] out" of opportunities.
She told People magazine: "No matter what her career is … don't count yourself out. Don't assume the worst. Keep on being you."
Susan explained that she's drawn lots of inspiration from her mother, Jeanette Lucci, who died in June 2021.
She shared: "I remember when I turned 60. I called my mother. I was having a lot of trouble with that particular number, and I called my mother and I said, ‘Mom, how did you deal with it? And how are you dealing with now?’ … And there was a little pause on the other end and she said, ‘Well, I just don't think about it.’ And I thought, you know what? That is the best answer anyone could give me."
Susan now refuses to be labelled or pigeonholed because of her age.
She said: "Don't put any labels on yourself. Don't let the number define you."
Meanwhile, Susan previously revealed that she wants to make the most of every opportunity she gets.
The veteran star told NewBeauty.com: "I’ve always been a very grateful person, but now I’m not going to squander one moment. I’m not going to postpone joy. I’m going to look for the laugh and look for every way to enjoy this precious gift of life that I have."
Susan is famed for her age-defying looks - but the actress insisted that there's no real secret to her appearance.
She said: "I probably do a lot of the same things that we all do.
"I will say that we all get a certain gene pool, and I was really lucky. Both my parents had really great skin."
