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Bond star Naomie Harris’s car crashed off the road, flipped on to its roof, rolled five times then burst into flames.
She managed to clamber to safety through the sunroof and stagger clear before the explosion – in an escape worthy of any 007 film.
But the cameras weren’t rolling. This wasn’t an action movie. It was real life and the memory of the terrifying ordeal haunts Naomie to this day.
The British actress, who plays Daniel Craig’s assistant Miss Moneypenny, cheated death after her driver nodded off.
The 39-year-old Londoner explained: “I was being driven from LA to San Francisco and the person at the wheel fell asleep.
“The next thing I knew I was upside down, flipped over five times. We climbed out the sun roof and the car blew up minutes later.
“We were knocked around so much – if we’d been knocked unconscious, we would have burnt alive.
“As it was I managed to look back and see the car explode into a ball of fire. It could have been an awful death.
“Every time I got in a car I was absolutely terrified but slowly I started to heal the emotional scars.
“The shock took months to go, you have no warning whatsoever.”
Just weeks earlier, she had been in another collision which left her vehicle sandwiched between a bus and a car.
Together, the two incidents had a “big, unsettling effect” on Naomie, who is now one of the hottest British names in Hollywood.
Monday sees her return to the big screen alongside co-stars Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux in the latest 007 epic, SPECTRE – expected to be a huge worldwide hit.
Critics have already lavished praise on the 24th Bond film’s slick production and high-octane special effects.
And Naomie, who starred as Eve Moneypenny in the last Bond movie Skyfall, again plays a key role in 007’s bid to save the world.
Moneypenny stands by the super spy as he goes rogue without permission from intelligence chiefs, risking her own career to support him – and prompting fury from M, played by Ralph Fiennes.
Unsurprisingly, the character has earned Naomie a legion of admirers. But she admitted reaction to her appearance has not always been positive.
The star has even been pressured to pile on weight by movie directors who criticised her for being too thin.
“I went on a ‘weight on’ programme,” Naomie revealed.
“I took this course of powder that had 3,000 calories which you add to ice cream and bananas three times a day.
“I tried desperately to put on weight with that until someone told me that many calories and chemicals put a strain on your heart, so I stopped after I’d put on half a stone.
“Thin women also have an awful time of it. I often have women coming up and saying, ‘You really should put on weight, are you OK?’
“And it’s rude, you feel ostracised, you wouldn’t say that to a fat person but somehow, if you’re thin, people feel like it’s OK to speak that way.”
She added: “All my family are thin, 5’8”. I never weigh myself. We’re naturally thin. I like to eat healthily and try not to stuff my face with doughnuts.
“But I’ve experienced the opposite pressure in regards to my body – not to stay thin, but put on weight.
“In Miami Vice the director said, ‘You’re just too thin and and I want you to put on more weight’.
“So they hired a private Jamaican chef to cook for me, as my family come from Jamaica, so I could eat more. And I had a personal trainer so I could bulk up.”
While Naomie resents being told she is too slim she admits she would like added curves.
She said: “I’ve always wanted to be bigger, the grass is always greener on the other side.
“I always look at women with curvy womanly shapes, big boobs and good hips and long for those. But I just wasn’t born that way so I have to accept it.
“I’d definitely love to be curvier. But I don’t like the emphasis on women’s bodies having to be a certain shape and no cellulite.
“It should be a celebration and acceptance of all women, and as you get older you learn more self-respect and come to an acceptance of who you are.”
Despite her huge success in movies including Bond and Nelson Mandela biopic The Long Walk To Freedom, Naomie has remained determined to stay down to earth – and revealed she still gets the London Underground while at home.
She said: “I’m still able to get on and off the Tube and wander around London.
“I don’t really get recognised, which I’m really pleased about. So I get to do what I love and also have my private life as well, which is incredibly important to me.”
And she refuses to be tempted by the trappings of fame, insisting: “The love of family and friends and respect and acceptance of yourself are what really makes the difference in life and they have nothing to do with money or success.
“I’m not a materistic person, never have been. I have a little car which I like and don’t want a flash Porsche.”
In The Long Walk To Freedom, Naomie starred opposite Idris Elba, touted as a possible future Bond.
But in her eyes, whoever gets the role should Daniel Craig hang up his Walther PPK gun has big boots to fill.
She said: “I just think we have an incredible Bond in Daniel, so I don’t really like all this talk about who’s going to be the next Bond.
“We have someone who’s phenomenal, and let’s celebrate the fact he is bloody brilliant as Bond. He’s really revolutionised the role.
“He’s got a kind of sensitivity that I think is so beautiful.
“When I watched him in Casino Royale, his first Bond, I cried at the end. I’ve always been a huge Bond fan, I’ve watched so many of the films, but I’d never cried before.
“I’d laughed, I’d been thrilled by the adventure and excitement, but it was only Daniel who made me cry.
“That’s because he’s an extraordinary actor and I feel like he was almost born to play Bond.”
But if he does go? “What you want is a Bond who has charisma, intelligence, a sense of humour, a sensitivity, and a brilliant actor,” Naomie said.
“Those kind of qualities are what you need to really carry off playing Bond. It’s an incredibly hard role to pull off.
“I just wish anybody who wants to take that on the very best of luck, because it comes with huge pressure.”
If Bond were to be a woman, might Naomie be game?
You wouldn’t bet on it – not even a Moneypenny, as the actress added: “It’s a massive challenge. I certainly would not put myself up for that!”
- SPECTRE opens at cinemas across the UK on Monday.