Ammon News - By Muna Al-Alul

Hollywood newcomer Olga Kurylenko - also known as "the planet's sexiest Ukrainian"- is stealing the spotlight in her first major movie role. She is the latest in a long line of beautiful actresses to play the part of 'Bond Girl'. In ‘Quantum of Solace’, the 22nd installment of the James Bond series, Olga plays the part of Camille, a dangerously alluring woman who challenges 007 and is bent on revenge.

The twice-divorced 29 year old model and actress was born to Ukrainian and Russian parents, and grew up in a small, impoverished industrial town in Ukraine. Despite childhood hardships, she was able to study ballet, languages and piano, before being discovered by a model scout on a train while on holiday in Moscow. Only 13 years old at the time, she was too young, but was told to call them in a couple of years.

At 16, a determined Kurylenko - whose dream was "to have an exciting and glamorous life" - moved to Paris and immediately embarked upon a successful modeling career while learning to speak fluent French in just six months. By 18 she was gracing the covers of the world's biggest magazines and appearing in advertisements for the best known names in the fashion industry.

In true model-turns-actress tradition, Olga Kurylenko eventually developed an interest in acting and landed a handful of roles in foreign TV shows and films. Her performance in "Le Serpent" (2005) as sexy seductress Sophia gained her a loyal, mostly male, fan base. In “Paris, J’taime” (2006), Olga costarred with Elijah Woods as a blood-lusting vampire. In 2007 she landed her first English part in Hitman, a videogame-to-movie adaptation.

While tempting to credit the eastern-European beauty's popularity on her looks, her first big screen role in the French drama L’annualier (2005) earned Kurylenko a certificate of excellence in the Brooklyn International Film Festival, proving that she is also a talented actress.

Commenting on the ‘Quantum of Solace’ cast, producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: "We are fortunate to continue in the Bond tradition of attracting the finest international actors for our starring roles." ‘Quantum of Solace’ sees Kurylenko play the lead Bond Girl and love-interest to Daniel Craig's Bond, while British actress Gemma Arterton plays 007's sidekick 'Agent Fields'.

Ever since Ursula Andress burst from the sea wearing that white bikini in the first Bond movie "Dr. No" in 1962, the Bond Girl has been as famous as 007 himself. Beautiful, glamorous and intelligent, Bond Girls usually portray James Bond's love interest. Many stunning women have appeared in Bond films over the years; their roles mostly decorative. The true Bond Girl stands out from this crowd of beauties. Exuding elegance and class, she is at times a victim, rescued by 007; more often the Bond Girl is a villainess, fellow agent or high-powered career woman. Independent, head-strong and unique, with a slightly masculine sense of fashion, Bond Girls are nuclear physicists, pilots, geologists, special agents, space shuttle commanders, martial arts experts and clairvoyants. The true Bond Girl plays a pivotal role in the success of Bond's mission.

For an un-established actress, appearing opposite 007 can greatly boost her career. James Bond films have been consistently successful at the box office. The media hype that surrounds the casting of 007 and the Bond Girls fuels the public's interest and has almost certainly played a large part in maintaining the series longevity.

Curse of the Bond Girl

There is a sinister side to the James Bond franchise however. For years there have been rumors of a Bond Curse. Frequently plagued by on-set accidents and injuries, the 007 curse extends to female leads through the 'curse of the bond girl'. Whether they believe in curses or not, there is no denying Hollywood's hottest starlets have been steering clear of the Bond movies for fear of their careers taking a hit. In fact, Casino Royal had so much trouble signing an actress to play its Bond girl that filming was delayed for weeks.

Swedish actress Britt Ekland found fame as Mary Goodnight in ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ (1974), but her career nosedived after she gave it up to focus exclusively on her relationship with rock-star boyfriend Rod Stewart. Introduced in 1975, they lived together for over two years. After the split, the heartbroken actress descended into a life of drink and drugs. Infamous for chasing young rock stars, Ekland is still a regular fixture on the rock and roll social scene, but her career is reduced to appearing in UK pantomimes.

Despite brushing off rumors of 'the curse of the Bond girl', Gemma Arterton screamed with joy when she heard she had landed a role in another movie while still filming ‘Quantum of Solace’.

Curse of the Cliché

For many actresses, playing a Bond Girl represented their only career high-point. This makes more sense if we consider that, for the majority of the fifty or so females who appeared opposite 007, most were little more than bikini-clad eye-candy who lounged around the pool and served no real purpose, other than to generate publicity for the film. With nothing but a great suntan to recommend their performances, is it any wonder their careers didn't take off?

There are exceptions to every rule and a number of actresses, including Ursula Andress, Jane Seymour, Kim Basinger, Carey Lowell and Famke Janssen have found post-bond success.

Diana Rigg, Honor Blackman, Terri Hatcher and Halle Berry were famous in their own right prior to their stint as Bond Girls. Hatcher fell prey to the curse, although the lag in her career coincided with the birth of her daughter (she was three months pregnant while filming 'Tomorrow Never Dies') and the breakup of her marriage. Either way, she beat the curse and bounced back into superstardom with Desperate Housewives.

Many thought Berry was tempting fate by accepting the part of Bond Girl ‘Jinx’ in 2002, particularly after she was injured in a series of on-set accidents. She blew the rumors out of the water when she won an Oscar for Best Actress, while still filming ‘Die Another Day’.

Curse of the Heavy European Accent

A popular Bond tradition is to cast international models and actresses opposite 007. They may have the looks, but more than one actress' voice - including iconic Ursula Andress - has been dubbed because of a heavy accent. Actresses, such as Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Sophie Marceau, may not have made it big in Hollywood, but they have gone on to shape successful careers in their native countries. The only curse in their case is the language barrier.

The Next Generation Bond Girl

For the past decade, there was a general consensus in Hollywood that the James Bond franchise was becoming stagnant. Hollywood's leading ladies also feared the stigma of the 'bimbo-esque' Bond Girl, and avoided the part like the plague.

Fortunately, times change and so do Bond Girls. The modern Bond Girl is Bond's equal; possessing special skills he needs to complete his mission - like martial arts - or even at times rescuing him. These Bond Girls are shown to be more headstrong, resourceful, and, in recent films, capable of holding their own.

Halle Berry summed it up when she said: "I play the feminine James Bond. She's the next step in the evolution of women in the Bond movies. She's more modern - more intelligent - and not the classic villain."

Olga Kurylenko is positive about her latest role, saying that there is still some glamour to being a Bond Girl. "A Bond Girl must be a strong and independent woman, but at the same time charming and sensual. Those opposite qualities combined together make her interesting. She must be strong but at the same time feminine."

Asked by IGN UK during a set visit if she was worried about being stereotyped, 007’s latest love-interest was unfazed. “I'm not worried about that because people that are around me professionally believe in me. And I have so many movie directors that are waiting in line to take me for their movies that have nothing to do with stereotypes – four of them are independent movies, and those are the ones I'm planning to do after this movie.”

Olga could be describing herself when commenting on her Bond Girl character: “She is a strong, feisty, independent woman. She is out there on her mission.” In true Bond Girl style the model, famous for her lingerie ads, has even confessed to some skill with weapons: “I've tried a few, mainly guns. But I hadn't tried an automatic machine-gun before and that's pretty impressive.”

Rumors that the latest Bond film has been hit by a jinx began after shooting of ‘Quantum of Solace’ was temporarily suspended, following a week of mysterious mishaps, including the destruction of 007’s £134,000 Aston Martin.

It remains to be seen if the new generation of Bond Girls go the way of some of their predecessors. As for Olga Kurylenko - billed as the toughest Bond Girl ever - I think that the feisty Ukrainian beauty can hold her own.