Real life 007:
Aliia Roza lived a perilous life as a secret agent, then she found love with the wrong man…
“I fell for the man I was sent to seduce”
Like millions of James Bond fans across the world, Aliia Roza can’t wait to head to the cinema to watch No Time To Die when the 25th film in the franchise is finally released next month. But the aspiring actress will be closer to the edge of her seat than most, as Aliia is a former secret agent who lived her own Bond-style life, fraught with intrigue and danger.
Trained as a spy in her home country of Russia, Aliia learned to fight, shoot and fly jets, but eventually had to flee the Russian military when she fell in love with the drugs lord she was ordered to seduce to get vital information out of him.
And now, 15 years on, her life is virtually unrecognisable. The 36 year old lives a glamorous LA lifestyle and works as a fashion PR and budding actress, even setting her sights on being the first female Bond.
TRAINED TO KILL
Aliia says, “Being a secret agent feels like a lifetime ago, but every time I watch a Bond movie, it brings it all back. My past made me who I am today. It’s time James Bond was cast as a woman, because we have so much courage. After all, I’m living proof.”
Aliia grew up in a military family and enrolled at a special training academy when she was just 18. For the next two years, she learned to shoot and fly jets and honed her martial arts skills. She was also trained in the art of seduction, so she could infiltrate criminal gangs and extract classified information.
Aliia says, “I was taught to shoot handguns and sniper guns – we were trained to kill.
“I also learned how to seduce men by dressing provocatively and using body language and eye contact techniques. It was all about being sexually charming so you could get close to your target.
“I saw many people die, but I lived off adrenaline and survival instinct. If your boss gave you orders, you couldn’t say no. My father was also high ranking, so I was under pressure to make my family proud.”
When Aliia was 20, she was ordered to go undercover and infiltrate a criminal drugs gang by targeting a key figure, called Vladimir*.
Aliia explains, “I dressed in a short skirt and crop top and picked him up in a club, pretending to be a prostitute. He was about 20 years older than me and handsome, with piercing blue eyes and blond hair.”
She successfully seduced Vladimir and the pair started a relationship. However, what she hadn’t bargained for was falling in love with him.
She says, “Looking back, I was very vulnerable. Although Vladimir was a criminal, he was so kind to me. He was my first love, but I fell for the criminal I was sent to trap. I had to live a double life, reporting back to my boss every few days. I was in great danger.”
WORKING UNDERCOVER
Five months into the mission, Aliia’s cover was blown when the gang discovered she was a spy. Furious, they bundled her into their Jeep one night and drove her to a forest, where they beat her up.
Aliia says, “I still have a scar. The gang called me a ‘rat’ and said they’d kill me. When Vladimir arrived, I told him I hadn’t had a choice – working undercover was my job. I was terrified, but he ordered the gang to stop.
“He could be cruel, but I was his weakness and, when he protected me, I realised how much he cared for me. We were like Romeo and Juliet.”
With Vladimir’s help, Aliia escaped to Moscow, but her exposure left her at risk. She says, “My boss told me to run away or I’d be tracked down and killed.”
Terrified, she cut ties with most of her friends and family and moved to Switzerland.
But a year later, she was devastated to hear Vladimir had been murdered.
She says, “I was utterly heartbroken. If he hadn’t met me, he’d still be alive.
“I believe his own team could have killed him, and I feel so guilty to this day.
I’ve spent years looking over my own shoulder and I still have therapy every week to help me get over my past. It will never be safe for me to return to Russia, but thankfully my family and I manage to meet up once a year in other countries like Dubai. I miss them so much and hope they’ll visit me here one day.”
PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURIES
Despite fearing for her safety, Aliia, who is single, went to college and reinvented herself as a fashion PR maestro. She now lives in an LA mansion with her 11-year-old son from another relationship, and mingles with the likes
of Claudia Schiffer and even Prince Charles. The budding actress is putting her spy skills to good use and has an agent lining up a series of auditions for upcoming action movies.
She says, “I’ve co-piloted the jet that Pierce Brosnan flew in Tomorrow Never Dies. My agent organised it as part of my audition tape. Some of the Bond scenes are so realistic – it’s almost like they are taken from my own life. Just like 007, I had to survive against the odds and have suffered physical and psychological injuries.
“Now, though, my ultimate dream would be to play a female Bond. I can do stunts and shoot guns, so why can’t a woman like me be the next 007?
“I’ll always worry about my past catching up with me, but I’m determined to enjoy each day as much as I can – in case it’s my last.”
By Sophie Barton
❛ SOME OF THE BOND SCENES ARE SO REALISTIC – IT’S LIKE THEY ARE TAKEN FROM MY LIFE ❜