The ‘Bond Girl’ Who Completely Forgot She Was a ‘Bond Girl’: “I’ve Changed My Artistic Name”

Being a “Bond girl” often carries a heavy legacy—one that can both open doors and cast long shadows over an actor’s career. For many, landing a role in the legendary James Bond franchise is a career highlight, but it can also become a label that follows them, sometimes to their detriment. While stars like Rosamund Pike have grappled with the lingering association, one former Bond actress has taken a very different path—so far removed from 007 that she completely forgot she was ever a “Bond girl.”

That actress is Irka Bochenko, who appeared in Moonraker (1979), Roger Moore’s fourth outing as James Bond. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Bochenko’s role was so minor and uncredited—listed simply as “Blonde Beauty”—that the film barely registered in her memory decades later.

Bochenko’s journey to Moonraker began in modeling, with hopes of landing a leading female role as Dr. Holly Goodhead. However, Margot Capelier, the film’s casting director, told her she was too young for a lead or supporting part, offering instead a “very beautiful role” as one of the villain Hugo Drax’s henchwomen. Bochenko recalls being initially upset but decided to take the opportunity.

Her character’s main contribution? Luring Bond into a hidden temple where he falls through a trapdoor into snake-infested waters—hardly the glamorous role she’d dreamed of. After Moonraker, Bochenko took a hiatus from acting that stretched over 20 years. During that time, she reinvented herself as an artist, writer, fashion designer, singer, and songwriter, eventually settling in France.

“I even forgot that I was a ‘Bond girl,’” Bochenko admitted. “I became an author and composer in France. I’ve changed my artistic name to Iren Bo.”

Her story offers a stark contrast to the struggles some Bond alumnae face with typecasting and the “Bond girl” stereotype—a label often seen as one-dimensional or limiting despite the franchise’s evolution. For Bochenko, the role was so minor and the passage of time so significant that 007 ceased to be a defining part of her identity.

While some actresses have found the Bond legacy difficult to escape, for Irka Bochenko, the film industry’s most famous spy saga became little more than a forgotten footnote in a richly varied artistic life.