She’s The Money

Introduced in Casino Royale (2006), Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) works for the Financial Action Task Force of Her Majesty’s Treasury. She is charged with supervising the British government funds to bankroll 007 (Daniel Craig) in a high-stakes game of Texas hold ’em poker at Casino Royale against Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker who finances international terrorism. Intelligent and perceptive, her relationship with Bond gets off to a flirtatious start but later develops into something much deeper. 

Vesper first encounters Bond in a dining carriage on a train to Montenegro. The pair trade barbs and insights, with Vesper’s sharp mind and quick wit matching Bond beat for beat.

James Bond: Well, your beauty’s a problem. You worry you won’t be taken seriously.

Vesper Lynd: Which one can say of any attractive woman with half a brain.

When they arrive at Casino Royale, Vesper is initially reluctant to pose as Bond’s trophy girlfriend and refuses to bankroll him further when he runs out of money. She does come to his aid during a fight with Ugandan warlord Steven Obanno (Isaach de Bankolé) — she knocks Bond’s Walther PPK from Obanno’s hand — but the tussle leaves her visibly shaken, Bond consoling her in their hotel room shower, both of them fully clothed.

After Bond re-joins the game, Vesper once again saves his life after Bond is poisoned by Le Chiffre’s girlfriend Valenka (Ivana Miličević). As he struggles to operate an automatic external defibrillator stashed in his Aston Martin DBS, she arrives in the nick of time to connect a key wire, saving the day as the machine brings him back to life.

After Bond wins the poker tournament, Vesper is kidnapped by Le Chiffre and left for dead, tied up in the middle of the road. Giving chase, Bond swerves at the last moment to save running into her. Both are captured by Le Chiffre but rescued by Quantum operative Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), who kills Le Chiffre for squandering the organisation’s funds. 

Bond and Vesper admit their feelings for each other. They sail to Venice on holiday, Bond resigning from MI6 and looking to start a new life with Vesper until he realises he has been double-crossed. Vesper withdraws the Casino Royale winnings and hands the money over to Adolph Gettler (Richard Sammel).  

As Bond arrives, Gettler throws Vesper into a caged elevator. A melee ensues, causing the building to sink and flood. Vesper apologises to Bond, locking herself into the lift as it starts to sink underwater. Bond tries to save her, finally extricating her from the elevator, but his attempts at CPR are too late.

As a final declaration of her feelings for Bond, Vesper leaves her phone for 007 to discover, giving him Mr. White’s contact details, a vital clue in bringing down Quantum.

Even after her death, Vesper continues to reverberate around Bond’s story. In Quantum Of Solace (2008), Bond is seeking revenge for Vesper’s death — although he assures M to the contrary — and keeps her photograph with him. He later learns that Vesper was coerced into betraying him by Quantum, who kidnapped her boyfriend, Yusef Kabira (Simon Kassianides). It is later revealed Yusef worked for Quantum seducing high-ranking women in government agencies. When 007 confronts Yusef, he spares his life, leaving him to MI6, acknowledging to M she was right about Vesper all along. As an act of letting go, Bond drops Vesper’s necklace in the snow.

In Spectre (2015), when Bond and Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) arrive at the L’American Hotel in Tangier, 007 discovers in the hotel room a tape titled ‘Vesper Lynd — Interrogation’ conducted by Mr. White. Later, Bond and Madeleine are captured by SPECTRE leader Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), who needles Madeleine with talk about Bond’s love for Vesper as a means of driving a wedge between them. Blofeld revels in the idea that SPECTRE manipulated Vesper into thinking Bond would never believe her, forcing her to take her own life.

Now in a relationship at the start of No Time To Die (2021), Bond and Madeleine travel to Italy after defeating Blofeld, writing their deepest secrets on a piece of paper. The following morning, Bond visits Vesper’s grave simply saying “I miss you”. Taking a moment, Bond burns the piece of paper — it says ‘Forgive Me’ — but the tomb is a trap laid by SPECTRE, and a bomb causes an explosion that knocks Bond off his feet.