The new Bond Girl was indeed an SI Swimsuit model, but it's not who you might think

Rebecca Shore | Dec 4, 2014

Monica in the Caribbean, SI Swimsuit 1991

Marc Hispard/SI

FOR NEARLY a year my Google alerts have kept my inbox stuffed with relentless speculation over who will be the next Bond Girl. As far as I'm concerned, the only people up for the role were Kate Uptonand Penelope Cruz. Then the news dropped: the woman who will catch James Bond's glinting eye in the franchise's 24th installment, Spectre, will be Monica Bellucci, the Italian actress who at 50 is the oldest Bond Girl, and the most age-appropriate given Daniel Craig's no-spring-chicken 46 years.

Lesser known, though, is Monica's appearance in the 1991 SI Swimsuit issue, making her the second-ever former SI Swimsuit model to bear the Bond Girl title after Barbara Carrera.