10 Actors Who Played The Same Character A Ridiculous Number Of Times
4. Lois Maxwell As Miss Moneypenny 14 Times
The Films: Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live And Let Die (1973), The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View To A Kill (1985) Shes entirely inconsequential to the plot, but Moneypenny is an integral part of the Bond formula. Ms secretary, her and James flirting (and thats a very light way of putting some of their early encounters) was a surprisingly important part of the films tone and its nice to see her back behind the desk following Skyfall. As with M the character was utterly defined by her first actress, Lois Maxwell. Originally offered a choice between Moneypenny and Sylvia Trench (now known as not-Ursula Andress), you can be sure shes glad she picked the on-the-face-of-it less interesting role; it kept her employed for twenty-three years, rather than two weeks. Later portrayals (Caroline Bliss with Dalton and Samantha Bond with Brosnan) were perfectly serviceable, if making the character a little one-note (well have to wait and see how Naomie Harris works out). If you want a solid Moneypenny you have to go with the original.
