The Spy Who Loved Me’s Barbara Bach slammed James Bond as ‘chauvinist pig’

Following Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun, Roger Moore returned as James Bond for his third of seven 007 movies in The Spy Who Loved Me.

This time around his Bond girl co-star would be Barbara Bach, who was best known in the mid-1970s for making a number of spaghetti Westerns.

The 29-year-old was cast just four days before the 007 film started shooting as Russian spy Anya Amasova.

Originally, Bach – who went on to marry The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr – had only expected a supporting role in The Spy Who Loved Me before bagging the lead opposite Roger.

And after wrapping the 1977 classic Bond movie, she shared exactly what she thought of Ian Fleming’s spy.

Speaking with PEOPLE in 1983, Bach called Bond “a chauvinist pig who uses girls to shield him against bullets.” Interestingly, Roger agreed with her, having said the same thing in 1973 when he starred in his debut 007 outing, Live and Let Die.

The Bond legend, who died in 2017, said at the time: “Bond, like myself, is a male chauvinist pig. All my life I’ve been trying to get women out of brassieres and pants.”

A few years later, Roger would acknowledge that how Bond girls were portrayed in the movies was changing, saying they were now “perpendicular instead of horizontal.”

Following The Spy Who Loved Me, Roger starred in Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only. The 007 star almost quit the franchise after five movies, with producer Cubby Broccoli screen testing and casting American star James Brolin in Octopussy.

However, Roger did return and lucky he did as EON Productions’ 1983 Bond movie went up against the unofficial Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery. Following 1985’s A View To A Kill, after a record of seven official 007 movies, he finally handed the role on to Timothy Dalton at the age of 57.