Interview with George Lazenby

On October 24th 1999, an interview with the star of OHMSS was broadcast on British TV on BBC2. The interview was on a show called Clarkson. This is a transcript of that interview for all OHMSS fans to enjoy.

C: Now I'm a bit of a James Bond anorak. I've seen all the films a hundred times, so I know, alright? I KNOW, which ones the best. Its the one where Diana Rigg gets shot, the one that gave us Louis Armstrong singing "We Have All The Time In The World", the one that was called "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

We'd seen the star before advertising Fry's Chocolate, but we haven't really seen him since...until now! Ladies & Gentlemen, to tell us what the hell happened, please welcome, George Lazenby!

LOUD CHEERING & APPLAUSE

C: Let's go back to the first day on the set of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", if I'd have got the role of James Bond and turned up on the set, I'd have spent all day playing with the gadgets, "Can I nick the Aston at lunchtime?", were you tempted to do that?

L: Oh yeah! I had an Aston given to me to drive to work in. At first I'd go on a motorcycle but the producers asked how they were going to get me off this motorcycle and said "Would an Aston Martin do?", so I said please, thanks very much!

C: It must have been just the best thing in the world!

L: It was wonderful, I mean those parts of it were extraordinary and things that you dream about.

C: Was it fun making that ice race sequence in the film with you and Diana Rigg?

L: Yeah, that was fun, I got there a little time before the director got there and basically before the director gets on the set, the star of the show is in charge. He can do whatever he likes, so there's all these little Escorts and Minis laying around so I said 'Get me one of those things!' so I hopped onto the ice with it and I had no idea you had to turn like a hundred yards before the turn.. so you're supposed to give it a little flick, so I went straight ahead over the barriers. So I get out and say 'get me another one so I can try it again and get it right!' But they said, "George, you're not driving in the film!' Oh that doesn't matter!

C: And you were marooned up on the top of a mountain with all those girls, the Joanna Lumleys and so on. All those amazing girls at Blofelds place.

L: I'll tell you a funny story about that. Just to relax, the crew were having a bit of fun and said one morning "You're going to this scene with all the girls around the table and we're going to pan underneath the table and show this girl writing her room number on your leg.

C: A number 8. I just know that!

L: .. and so they said "Do you mind if we have a bit of fun with her?" so I say 'Not at all!' so they got this pan of water with a huge german sausage and I didn't know what the hell they were doing. I said, "That's a hell of a big sausage!"...

C: Not to an englishman!

L: ... and then they went and camera-taped it to my leg underneath the table and I could feel something going on, but I didn't know what was going on and meanwhile the actress next to me had to put her hand down there, and this was supposed to be the big laugh. They said "Turn Over" and away they went and panned the camera under the table, her hand went down to my leg and no reaction from her. The guys were there scratching their heads, thinking she must have missed it and after the shot was over she said to me..."You've got no pants on!"

C: You were well placed to be Bond because you had a pretty action packed childhood back in Australia. There were bikes and so on.

L: Basically I modelled myself on James Bond throughout life. I was an adrenalin junkie from day one. Two wheels were more fun to me than four; so at nighttime to have some fun, I'd climb out of my bedroom window, go to the bush where I hid the bike which had no mufflers on, and I'd drive around the police station, until they came out and they had an old truck which did exactly 80mph.

C: You knew this.

L: I knew this cos' that 's when I'd pull away from them.

C: So with the fist fights, was it a time of brawling?

L: Well, I think Australians are.... there is a shortage of women...put it that way. So you've got all this testosterone floating around so at 10 o'clock at night and what else is there to do but punch your mate! There's always something you did wrong.

C: So this nose, this not-very-straight nose, that's from Australia?

L: That's a lot of motor cycle racing, rugby and guys...er....who thought I was someone else!

C: I guess then with this biking fighting sort of upbringing, you were perfectly placed to do all your own stunts.

L: Absolutely. In the fight scenes, you're supposed to miss by, like, this much, because the camera angle shows it as a hit. And all the stuntmen are showing me what to do and what have you, and then when the camera turned over, its another story! The real thing!

C: You hit the guy?

L: I decked the guy! And I said "That's cost me!" because not only did I deck him, he was a russian champion wrestler! So when he gets up, I'm gonna be in trouble.

C: I've never seen fight sequences as good as that, in any other film, never mind any other Bond film. They really are great!

L: We were going for it! And a lot of times we got hit too and I didn't know. I thought, "That's the way they made films!"

C: So how come you fell out so spectacularly with the director?

L: Peter Hunt?

C: Yeah, Peter Hunt.

L: I had a falling out with him on the set. The crew were responsible because they needed Peter's friends off the set as they were getting in the way. They came up to me and being a naive actor, they said "Could you help us out? Could you get everyone who's not needed to clear the set?". I didn't think anything about it so I said " OK! Anyone who's not needed around here, clear the set!" because you're the star of the show you're kinda the boss, you know? Next thing I knew, Peter Hunt wasn't talking to me. They were all his friends.

C: And this was how long into the shoot?

L: I think about a week.

C: A week into the shoot?

L: And we had 9 months to go! I did the whole thing without talking to him. I tried to talk to him. I have memories of him walking right by me and I said "Peter?" He didn't answer so I said "Peter? It's me!" and he did speak and said "Yes. I know" and kept going and that was it!

C: So it was pretty difficult?

L: It was very difficult.

C: Were you difficult to work with?

L: No! I was never late, I did everything I was told to the best of my ability.

C: I mean you didn't kind of think "Wow! I'm James Bond. I can do anything!"

L: That... came into it later. Yeah. It would happen to the best of us, believe me.

C: Did you actually get sacked?

L: No!

C: Well how did it happen that you left the role?

L: Well, it's hard for people to understand today but in 1969, when the film came out, the top grossing, number one film, in the world, was Easy Rider and these guys weren't wearing suits and short hair cuts, they were wearing bell bottoms and smoking marijuana. It was very easy for the people who were advising me to tell me that James Bond was Sean Connery's thing and it's over. I bought it! And I thought it's a good move because I hadn't signed a contract, I'd gone through the whole thing without signing anything.

C: Because you were going to make seven?

L: Seven, yeah, and my lawyer, Norman Beckman, fought for me to get out of the contract. They offered me deals under the table, United Artists offered me any film I wanted to do in between any Bond film to stay with the role. And I kept saying to this guy who's advising me, "What about that? That's a pretty good deal!" He said, "No, No you don't need 'em. You'll go great! Whatever you do, you're gonna do great!"

C: So you walked away from Bond! Where did you go when all the hype had died down?

L: I made a film called "Universal Soldier" and it was a dreadful film. I mean I was partly directing it, producing it, thinking I knew what I was doing and if anyone sees it, they'll see I didn't. And that was my one shot. That failed and then I went onto Kung Fu movies in Hong Kong.

C: You also starred, forgive me for bringing this up, in "Emmanuelles Revenge" which must have been kind of fun?

L: Yeah! Well it didn't matter to me at that time what roles I played. I mean I was just doing it for the money.

C: It sounds to me like maybe you've not pressed the self destruct button yourself but the self destruct button has been pressed a number of times in your life.

L: Yeah, and I look back and think "How'd that happen?" I had no idea where I was going when I got into the Bond film. I was just a guy who took advantage of the opportunity to become an icon. I had nothing to lose. I didn't want to be famous, I thought I did and when I became famous, I didn't know how to handle it so it almost drove me crazy. I just wanted to be one of the guys.

C: Do you look at Bond films now and think "If only..."

L: I look at Bond films only if I have to. I've got some sad memories and also I haven't seen one since I did mine. I've seen bits and pieces here and there.

C: You haven't seen one!?

L: No! I haven't seen one.

C: They're fantastic!

L: Okay!

C: Sounds like there's some sour grapes there.

L: Well not on my part! I offered to play the villain in the next one.

C: Now that would be a good idea!

L: Yeah!

C: Bond takes on Bond! Would they take you on?

L: No. They're still a little sore at me actually.

C: So do you blame your advisers then for everything that happened?

L: Well, in retrospect you can only blame yourself and I do blame myself. I'd loved to have had that time over again and done another one or two, it would have worked out great for me, or seven. It wouldn't matter.

C: You could have spared us from Roger Moore!

L: (Laughs)

C: It's been an enormous pleasure to meet you, it really has, a privilege.

L: Thank you

C: Ladies and Gentlemen, George Lazenby!

Cheering and applause!