Speaking to SpyHard’s podcast earlier, Richards admitted that she had never seen a 007 film before being cast as a Bond girl and was completely unaware of how big the franchise is. Although she struggled with anxiety during auditions and a screen test with Pierce Brosnan, she did her homework by watching the older James Bond films. And when she was cast in the role of Dr. Christmas Jones, she was pleasantly surprised to find the role was intelligent, athletic, and had greater character depth compared to her predecessors.

Despite this, critics and audiences poked fun at her role as a nuclear physicist in shorts and a tank top. However, the 53-year-old believes that if her character had worn a lab coat, fans would wonder why she isn’t a Bond girl. She said: “I just thought she was strong and feisty and funny and didn’t care about how she looked.” But it all became too much for her on the press tour.

Richards admitted: “It was very hard when the film came out because I had to take a lot of criticism for it and it was not easy for me to get so much press. And to go out there and know that people were making fun of me, that was the first time in my career that I had to deal with something like that.

“It was very, very difficult for me and I just had to put on a smile and go out there and do talk shows and then travel around the world. I went to my hotel room and cried because the critics were making fun of me and saying things. It was very, very difficult.”

The 53-year-old also said that the director of “The World Is Not Enough”, Michael Apted, who died in 2021, apologized to her.

It turned out that during the filming of the 007 movie, Richards had suggested changes to her Bond girl that might have prevented some of the criticism she received upon release. Apted had not allowed these changes and ended up regretting it.

She added: “It meant a lot to me that he apologized to me. Despite all of that, I’m so grateful and proud to have been a part of such an iconic franchise. It’s something you never forget.”