Miss Moneypenny in James Bond: Who She Is and Who Played Her

Miss Moneypenny is the MI6 secretary to M, the head of the service, and four actresses have played her in 23 of the 25 official EON Bond films. Lois Maxwell is billed as Miss Moneypenny, tenth in the cast, in Dr. No (1962), directed by Terence Young. That film had its UK premiere on October 7, 1962 and its US release on May 8, 1963 (both dates are reported rather than confirmed), so the character was there from the very first entry in the saga.

The credits do not use a single name throughout. Most films list her as Miss Moneypenny or Moneypenny, while Naomie Harris is credited as Eve in Skyfall and as Moneypenny in Spectre and No Time to Die. M's secretary is Moneypenny, and Eve is the name credited to Naomie Harris in Skyfall.

Here is who played her, in release order:

There is one more actress outside that count. Pamela Salem plays Miss Moneypenny in Never Say Never Again (1983), directed by Irvin Kershner. That film was made independently by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm and is not an EON production, so it sits outside the official series. Its US release was October 7, 1983 (confirmed), and its UK premiere was December 15, 1983 (reported).

For the wider ensemble, see the james bond characters index, the james bond cast page and the profile of M.

Moneypenny's arc runs in three stages: a long run as a constant presence under Lois Maxwell, a handover through Caroline Bliss and Samantha Bond, and a reinvention under Naomie Harris. Maxwell is billed in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and she keeps the part through Diamonds Are Forever and the Roger Moore films, including Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill. Around her the cast changes constantly: Bernard Lee plays M in the early films, Robert Brown takes over in Octopussy, and Desmond Llewelyn's Q arrives in From Russia with Love.

The Living Daylights (1987), directed by John Glen, brings Caroline Bliss into the role beside Timothy Dalton. It had its UK premiere on June 29, 1987 (reported) and its US release on July 31, 1987 (confirmed). Bliss is billed thirteenth, and she is the only actress to play the part in a single EON film.

Samantha Bond takes over in GoldenEye (1995), directed by Martin Campbell, the first film with Pierce Brosnan and Judi Dench as M. The US release was November 17, 1995 (confirmed) and the UK premiere was November 23, 1995 (reported). Bond stays for Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, so Moneypenny spans the whole Brosnan era.

The biggest change comes in Skyfall (2012), directed by Sam Mendes. In the Istanbul chase, Bond and Eve pursue the mercenary Patrice, who has stolen a hard drive listing undercover agents. During a fight on a moving train, M orders Eve to take a shot she cannot make cleanly. Eve hits Bond, who falls into a river and is presumed dead. At the end, after M's funeral, Eve says she is leaving fieldwork for a desk job as secretary to Gareth Mallory, who becomes the new M. That move turns Moneypenny from a background fixture into someone with a field history with Bond.

In Spectre (2015), also directed by Mendes, she is credited as Moneypenny, and she gives quiet help to Bond after he is suspended for going off the books. With Q she helps him follow the trail, and she helps him find Mr. White in Austria. Naomie Harris is credited as Moneypenny in No Time to Die (2021), directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Moneypenny is not Bond's love interest in the plot of any film; she is his colleague at MI6, someone who sees him between missions. The romantic storylines in the plots belong to other characters: Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love, Pussy Galore in Goldfinger and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale (2006), for example. Moneypenny stays at the office end of the story, and her closest ties run through Bond, M and Q.

Her link to M changes with each actor. She shares scenes with Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, and in Skyfall it is M herself who orders the shot that puts Eve in a bind with Bond. In Skyfall's closing scene, Mallory becomes the new M and Eve becomes his secretary, which ties Moneypenny to M more directly than in any earlier film.

Her link to Q runs through Desmond Llewelyn, who is billed alongside Lois Maxwell in films such as Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Octopussy and A View to a Kill, and later through Ben Whishaw. In Spectre, Moneypenny and Q are the two colleagues who quietly back Bond when he is suspended, which is the clearest example of the three of them acting as a team. Bill Tanner, played by Michael Kitchen in GoldenEye and by Rory Kinnear from Quantum of Solace onward, completes the MI6 group around her.

For the lead, see the profile of James Bond, and for the gadget man see q james bond.

Miss Moneypenny survives every James Bond film and is last credited as Moneypenny in No Time to Die (2021). Her biggest change of status comes at the end of Skyfall, when Eve gives up fieldwork for a desk job as secretary to Gareth Mallory, the new M. From Spectre onward she is credited as Moneypenny.

No Time to Die ends the Daniel Craig era with Bond's death at the hands of a missile strike on Lyutsifer Safin's island. Back in London his MI6 colleagues raise a glass to his memory, and Naomie Harris is credited as Moneypenny in the film. As of November 2, 2026, Amazon MGM has confirmed no names for the next Bond film, which is in development with Denis Villeneuve directing. The next james bond movie page tracks that status.

In my opinion, the best Moneypenny moment is the Istanbul train sequence in Skyfall, because it is the one scene where the character takes the story's central action. Bond and Eve are chasing Patrice, M orders a shot that Eve cannot make cleanly, and the result is Bond falling into a river and being presumed dead. It is a practical, plot driving choice, and it gives her a reason to carry a grudge, or at least a guilt, into the rest of the film. (The film went on to earn $1.11 billion worldwide on a $200 million budget, with a London world premiere on October 23, 2012, a UK release on October 26, 2012 (confirmed) and a US release on November 9, 2012 (reported).)

The second pick is her quiet help in Spectre. When M suspends Bond, Moneypenny and Q keep the trail alive, and she helps him find Mr. White. This is the first time the MI6 support staff act as a small team rather than a set of cameos, which makes it a useful hinge between the older films and the Craig era.

The third is Maxwell's first appearance as Miss Moneypenny in Dr. No (1962). She is billed tenth in the cast, a long way from the leads, and yet she is already in the first film in the saga. Ranked by what each actress inherited, Maxwell built a part from nothing and kept it for more than two decades, Caroline Bliss and Samantha Bond carried it through changes of Bond actor, and Harris was given the most story. If you want the full run, start with james bond movies in order and watch Dr. No, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye and Skyfall in sequence, since they show the four handovers.