Moneypenny’s toughest test ... learning to walk again
SHE plays the modern-day Miss Moneypenny who can give James Bond a run for his money in action scenes.
But Naomie Harris has revealed she had to learn to walk again after a traumatic childhood battle with scoliosis.
The British actress, 4 , was diagnosed with the condition – curvature of the spine – when she was 11.
‘The progression of the disease became severe in my teens, and I needed an operation,’ she told Shape magazine.
‘Doctors inserted a metal rod down my spine. I spent a month in the hospital recovering and had to learn how to walk again. It was really traumatic.’
But the actress, who grew up in London, said that she remained optimistic and felt lucky when she met children who were never able to walk again. ‘I saw kids in the hospital with scoliosis so advanced that they would never be able to stand properly. I felt really lucky. Since then, I have always appreciated the gift of a healthy body,’ she said.
‘After my scoliosis operation, it took me a long time to become active again because I didn’t want to do anything that could hurt me in any way.’ The 007 star, who is of Jamaican and Nigerian descent, said that she now tries to take care of her body as much as possible by regularly working out and eating healthily.
‘I don’t abuse my body. Health is the greatest thing you can have,’ she said. ‘When I started making films that required me to be physically active, I realised that my body was capable of doing a lot more than I thought it was, and that if I exercise I become stronger.’
Miss Harris, who doesn’t drink alcohol, now does pilates twice a week and swims for 45 minutes three times a week. She also makes sure she carves out time to meditate twice a day.
The actress, who will star alongside Daniel Craig in the forthcoming Bond film No Time To Die, told the publication: ‘I also want to present positive images of being a woman, especially a woman of colour. That’s so important to me.’