Liz Smith Swam With the Sharks for James Bond

Subject: Liz Smith Swam With the Sharks for James Bond Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:54 am

In response to: What's the most physically grueling/challenging thing you've ever done?

The most physically grueling, challenging thing I’ve ever done happened during the filming of "Thunderball" in the Bahamas back when James Bond was played by Sean Connery. I was writing a story for Sports Illustrated. These tough guys working the movie took me out in a small boat to a mountain sticking up out of the water and said, "We’re going to get in the water, swim down and come up inside of this peak, which is hollow inside. We’ll guide you through a hole under the water and we are filming inside." I demurred. I said I didn’t swim all that well. They said, "Don’t worry we’ll guide you."

Then these tough guys working on the film said, "Either you swim down with us or we leave you here alone on top of the water, which is surrounded by sharks. And this is an awfully small boat." I opted to swim but it was horrible and they had affixed a dead shark at the entrance impaled on a spear under the water. I have never been so frightened. Even if I knew they were goofing with me, it was still hard. And coming back out and up to the boat wasn’t fun either. Later, I saw what they filmed in the movie inside that little mountain in the water, but though it probably "made" my story, it was daunting.

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