Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Israeli Model To Audition for ‘James Bond’ Film

The next Bond girl might be Israeli.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg has been invited to audition for the next James Bond movie, Israel’s Ynet news site reports.

The role would mark a professional breakthrough for the 21-year-old, who had a small role last year in the little-seen “Twelve,” whose biggest star was Chace Crawford of “Gossip Girl.”

The “Bond” role calls for an “exotic woman” — a bit of an irony for Ginzburg, whose blonde hair and light eyes make her far more exotic in Israel than in Hollywood.

Ynet notes that Ginzburg’s invitation is for a preliminary round of auditions, and that the only roles that have been cast so far are those of Daniel Craig, who will return as James Bond, and Judi Dench, who will be back as M.

One advantage Ginzburg may have over other potential Bond girls: She already knows how to handle a weapon, thanks to her service in the Israeli army. (It might also help if Kanye West gets a say, since he’s already on record as a fan.)

Even if she makes it to the later stages of auditions, Ginzburg won’t be the first Israeli to have a close encounter with 007. Another Israeli model, Moran Atias, reportedly made it to the final round during tryouts for a previous Bond film.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.