'Bond villains had the best lines'

5:45pm Sunday 12th October 2008

James Bond legend Sir Roger Moore has revealed he would have preferred to have played a villain because they had better lines than the infamous secret agent.

Sir Roger was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Saturday night to launch his autobiography My Word is my Bond.

He discussed his roles from The Saint and The Persuaders to his suave performances as 007 in seven of the Bond films.

He told an audience of around 400 people at Cheltenham Racecourse that he was worried that when he would come to say the famous line "My name is Bond, James Bond" in his first movie Live and Let Die he would accidentally do a Sean Connery impression.

"It is one of those lines that stays with you, it was about the most I had to say in Bond," he joked.

"I would have loved to have been a villain, they had wonderful speeches like "the end of the world is about to come" and Bond just listens but doesn't really get to say anything."

Sir Roger said his favourite of Bond's nemeses was Nick Nack from the Man with the Golden Gun and that Christopher Walken was the best villain actor because he was "off the wall".

He also told the audience about his great friendship with Oscar-winning actor David Niven and the effect his death from motor neurone disease had on him and how Audrey Hepburn inspired him into what has been 17 years as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Sir Roger, who celebrates his 81st birthday on Tuesday, said his good looks had at times been a disadvantage in his acting career.

"I never quite understood about looks and I was puzzled by my mother at about 16 who said to me 'never become conceited', I didn't understand what she meant until I looked in the mirror," he said.

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