Above: George Lazenby at the Vanity
Fair post-Oscars party earlier in 2012.
|
|
Asked why it was that audiences are reconnecting
with his Bond outing, over 40 years later, Lazenby said: "Because
of me! No, it's not me. It's the only film that treats
him like a human being. He's not a robot killer like the
latest Bond."
"They offered me millions under the table
to do another one, but I thought James Bond was over. Easy
Rider was the No. 1 movie. Everyone was smoking marijuana,
and that was the furthest thing from a James Bond movie.
So I didn't sign the contract. I was badly treated after
that. They told the press that I was difficult to handle,
so it was hard to find work."
He was very honest about his regrets about turning that
offer down and walking away, especially as his finances
were tight in years shortly after.
"Yeah, I regretted
it many times. Especially when I had a baby and another
one in the pouch, and I was broke. I was living with my
mother in Australia."
"I've done everything I ever wanted to do. There's
no challenges besides writing my memoir, which I'm avoiding
like the plague."
|