20 Things You Didn’t Know About GoldenEye (1995)

18. Stand By Your Man

Goldeneye Pierce Brosnan
MGM/UA

Ex-KGB agent and underworld kingpin, Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky's (Robbie Coltrane’s) mistress, Irina was portrayed by up-and-coming actress, singer, and songwriter, Minnie Driver. She had largely featured in television productions before appearing in the 17th Bond film and later starred in Good Will Hunting (1997), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Michelle Eldridge leant her voice to Irina's “strangling the cat” performance of Tammy Wynette’s 1968 song, Stand By Your Man, even though Minnie Driver was a trained singer.

Driver was paid $5,000 for her role in GoldenEye, in stark contrast to her salary for her later performances, but her appearance - even as a fleetingly-seen Bond Girl - helped to raise her profile on the silver screen.

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