NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
One look at the cover of Playboy was all it took for Susan Lucci to realize she didn't get the role of a Bond girl.
The “All My Children” legend revealed that she was looking for the role of the Bond girls, until she met with producer Barbara Broccoli in New York.
“Yeah… yeah. Well, I don't know how close I was. They saw two people in New York – one was Kim Basinger and the other was me… It was a summer day. I went to the beautiful town house Broccoli … and I was very happy to be seen,” Lucci said during an appearance on “Today.”
'ALL MY KIDS' STAR SUSAN LUCCI ATE ASPARAGUS FOR 10 DAYS TO GET FIT FOR 'THE CITY' NIGHT DRESS
Susan Lucci says she wanted the role of a Bond girl but lost out to Kim Basinger. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for AHA)
“Then a few weeks later, I was in the hair salon and in the cars of 'All My Children' – they gave me a copy of Playboy magazine, and there was Kim Basinger,” he recalled. “And I said, 'Oh, OK. … Kim gets the part. It's not going to be me.'”
Basinger would go on to hail the February 1983 cover as “007's new woman,” playing opposite Sean Connery in “Never Say Never Again” — and closing the door on what could have been Lucci's Bond moment.
Actor Sean Connery appears as James Bond alongside Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera in a scene from the 1983 film “Never Speak Again.” (Stanley Bielecki Film Collection/Getty Images)
SUSAN LUCCI WAS 'BREAKDOWN' AFTER LOSING HUSBAND OF 53 YEARS, FEARING HE WOULD NEVER AGAIN.
Decades later, Lucci is still rewriting his own script.
In March 2026, the beloved soap opera star — who played Erica Kane — talked about everything from getting in shape after giving birth to finding balance after a loss in her memoir “La Lucci.”
“I actually ate asparagus 10 days before I went back to work a week early,” she told Fox News Digital, admitting, “I was very nervous about it. And on top of that, it was a tight, black, sexy nightgown. I thought, 'Are they kidding?' Even though I was really excited to play Erica Kane, I just thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I have to lose this weight.'
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Actors (L-R) Susan Lucci and Lee Godart cuddle in bed in a scene from the daytime soap “All My Children.” (Robin Platzer/Getty Images)
“But that doesn't make me happy at all. I just did what I had to do. That's all.”
These days, Lucci's approach is less crash dieting, cleaner living.
LIKE YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE FUN NEWS
Susan Lucci says she competed against Kim Basinger for the role of the Bond girl and learned she lost the part after seeing her rival on the cover of Playboy magazine. (Nina Westervelt/Variety)
He discovered Pilates in 1995 by writing a lifelong devotional.
“We were in New York most of the time filming 'All My Children,' and anyone who knows anything about New York knows there are no restaurants,” she said. “Everybody brought their own, and I was the one who was shouting. I'd start looking at the menus at 8:30 in the morning – 'Don't be afraid. We can put our orders in early.'
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
However, that thought did not last.
“But honestly, within a few weeks, I wanted to eat completely clean… It wasn't even a choice. It was my body that wanted to be healthier, and it's good to listen to your body.”
Fox News Digital's Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
