Roger Moore tells of dropping Sean Connery's famous Bond phrase

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Sean Connery
Image caption,

Connery's Bond has been celebrated by producer Barbara Broccoli

Roger Moore has told how one of his first decisions before taking over the role of James Bond was not to use Sean Connery's famous phrase "shaken not stirred".

In an interview for June's edition of Empire magazine, Moore recalled his early meetings with 007 film director Guy Hamilton.

Moore said that while he would be playing the same character they wanted to avoid "any deliberate" comparisons.

The interview, one of a series in Empire on Bond, came ahead of new Bond film Skyfall.

Starring Daniel Craig as 007 and directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, the latest movie in the franchise will be released in October.

Scenes have been shot in London, Turkey and the White Corries in Glencoe.

The filming in the Highlands in February reportedly involved a car chase featuring Aston Martin DB5s - the same car driven by Connery in Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Talking about his early discussions with Hamilton about taking over from Scottish actor Connery, Moore said: "We talked about my approach to the character.

"The thing he wanted to avoid was any deliberate comparison to Sean, apart from the fact I was playing the same character.

Image caption,

Daniel Craig is the latest actor to play James Bond

"So I was never saying 'Martini, shaken not stirred'."

In her interview with Empire, producer Barbara Broccoli recalls how Connery exploded the traditional image of a movie's leading man.

Ian Fleming's books about the secret agent were adapted for film by Broccoli's father Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.

She said: "The typical British leading man used to be Trevor Howard or Leslie Howard - very polite and your classic gentleman.

"I think the real genius of Cubby and Harry was the fact that they didn't pay any attention to the typical class structure and they took someone who was a very real person and put him into this suit."

The magazine tells of "unsung hero" Yat Malmgren, a Swedish dance teacher to whom Connery turned to help hone his movement and gestures.

It also tells of Dr No scriptwriter Terence Young introducing Connery to his Savile Row tailors and then telling the actor to sleep in the suits.

Empire said the idea was to give the character the look of a man who had an eye for finery, but was more caught up in "life and death than ironing shirts".

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