Jaclyn Smith has revealed she passed on the chance to play a Bond girl in the 1979 film moonraker, and the reason comes down to her Houston roots and a sense of loyalty that proved stronger than any Hollywood option.
The Charlie’s Angels Star, 80, revealed it at PaleyFest’s Charlie’s Angels 50th anniversary reunion and explained that she was under contract at the time and felt honored to see it through.
“I had a contract [for Charlie’s Angels] and you know, Houston upbringing, you follow your contract,” she said.
“And Aaron [Spelling] was the first to invite me to the party, so I honored my contract.”
The role of Dr. Holly Goodhead in the Roger Moore Bond movie eventually went to Lois Chiles.
Smith said she has no regrets. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I think things happen for a reason, I really do, so I have no complaints.”
She also revealed that Moonraker was not the only major role that slipped through her fingers.
She was at one point considered Beetlejuicealthough she admitted that she simply did not connect with the script.
“You read a script and it’s not always true to you, and it’s about what you can bring to it,” she said.
The film’s female leads went to Catherine O’Hara, Geena Davis and a young Winona Ryder. Her husband, she noted with a laugh, has never quite forgiven her for that one.
There was also a near-miss 9½ weekswhich she and John Travolta were going to do together at some point.
“But I wasn’t really into it either,” she said. “So, it was Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. You know, it happens.”
Looking back on a career that spanned the entire course of Charlie’s Angelsthe acclaimed TV movie Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and recurring roles on CSI, Becker and All AmericanSmith was philosophical.
“I definitely think I’m looking at my life as it’s meant to be, and it’s been a good journey. It’s really been a good journey.”
She also shared a revealing insight into how little faith the network initially had Charlie’s Angelsdespite its extraordinary ratings.
Airing as a two-part movie, the pilot went through the roof, and the network’s response was to re-air it to see if it was a fluke.
It wasn’t.
“They just thought these women in men’s roles, this is not going to work,” Smith recalled. They didn’t even order a full season. It took a sustained run in the top ten before they finally accepted what they had.
