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Bond. James Bond.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an iconic catchphrase from one of the highest grossing film franchises in the world \u2013 not to mention acclaimed books, TV shows, comics and even radio broadcasts.<\/p>\n
But imagine hearing it almost every day whenever someone finds out what your full name is. That\u2019s the reality for three men named James Bond that Metro.co.uk spoke to on the back of film, The Other Fellow, that all three star in.<\/p>\n
Here, they talk about what it\u2019s like to navigate life in the shadow of the most famous British Secret Service agent in the world.<\/p>\n
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Sometimes when I get mail in the post, I cry.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not because of the content of the letters though, it\u2019s because I see the name that it\u2019s addressed to and I get emotional.<\/p>\n
My name is literally: \u2018Bond James Bond\u2019. I legally changed it from Gunnar Sch\u00e4fer to that in 2007 because the fictional international spy means so much to me.<\/p>\n
In fact, I consider James Bond\u2019s creator, Ian Fleming, a father figure. It feels like he\u2019s been there for me throughout my life when my own biological dad left me and my family two years after I was born.<\/p>\n
I have absolutely no memories of my dad. He abandoned my mother, two older brothers and I one day but didn\u2019t tell anyone. To this day, no one knows where he ended up, but an Interpol search later declared him dead by 1969.<\/p>\n
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It was really hard for my mother raising three children alone. She did her best, but I always felt lost without a paternal figure to look up to.<\/p>\n
Then, my big brothers took me to watch Goldfinger in 1965 at the age of eight. I was immediately drawn to Sean Connery as James Bond, who played the character as this tough, harder guy getting among all the action.<\/p>\n
I was hooked on the franchise after that. I actually got a little toy Aston Martin with an ejector seat at the time, which I still have today.<\/p>\n
From that moment on, I consumed anything and everything related to James Bond. I went to my local library and read all of Fleming\u2019s books, which weren\u2019t all that different to each other \u2013 but I couldn\u2019t get enough.<\/p>\n
I have followed the author\u2019s life \u2013 and the wider franchise \u2013 very closely throughout my own. I\u2019ve seen every film, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. Besides the nostalgia of 1964\u2019s Goldfinger, one of my other favourites is actually Daniel Craig\u2019s Skyfall (2012) because I feel like there are similarities with my own story.<\/p>\n
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James Bond visits Skyfall Lodge, his ancestral home where his parents lived before their untimely deaths. I felt like I was watching myself on screen trying to figure out what happened to my own father.<\/p>\n
On top of consuming all the films, TV shows and films, I also started collecting memorabilia too. In fact, I had so many artefacts that I opened a museum in 2002 \u2013 the same year Die Another Day came out \u2013 called the James Bond 007 Museum, Nybro, in Sweden. <\/p>\n
In it, I have my vast collection of cars, clothes, film set props, toys and even vodkas. Some of it can be quite expensive, but to me, it\u2019s priceless.<\/p>\n
I love the motorcycles I have from No Time To Die and the hovercraft from Die Another Day. But one of my absolute favourites is the motorised 12 metre-long gondola I got from 1979\u2019s Moonraker.<\/p>\n
In the film, Roger Moore is chased through the canals of Venice and I just thought that was so cool. It actually took me 10 years before I got approved by the government there to buy it and to take it with me back to Sweden.<\/p>\n
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Changing my name in 2007 felt like a full circle moment to honour the impact of both the franchise and Ian Fleming on my life. It means the world to me to have the same name as my idol.<\/p>\n
People ask if I regret it, and the truth is, not at all. James Bond comforted and helped me while I was growing up, it feels right that I\u2019ve devoted my life to it.<\/p>\n
I have travelled the world to see as much as I can in relation to this life-changing spy and actually, it\u2019s brought many people to me in Sweden too. I\u2019ve met enthusiasts from all over the world \u2013 from places like New York, Jamaica, New Zealand and France.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the power of James Bond \u2013 he connects us to each other. And I\u2019ll forever be grateful to Ian Fleming for transporting me into this world.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, I visited the author\u2019s grave in Swindon and was overcome with emotion. It was very calm and peaceful to visit but all I could think was: \u2018This is the closest I can get to my dad.\u2019<\/p>\n
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As I stopped at a red light in the bus I was driving, I noticed the taxi in front of me had completely broken down.<\/p>\n
The front end of the vehicle collapsed, a bang rang out and sparks were flying everywhere while it slid through the red light and onto the busy intersection.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, four men in suits popped out of the car and looked around desperately. They waved their arms at me, so I ushered them over to jump in the back of my shuttle bus.<\/p>\n
They were on their way to the airport and I was happy to take them after their heinous ordeal. A few minutes into the trip, one of them suddenly burst into riotous laughter.<\/p>\n
He pointed at a sign in my car, which read: \u2018Thank you for riding the Super Shuttle, your driver is James Bond.\u2019<\/p>\n
Then he said: \u2018Imagine our luck being rescued by James Bond!\u2019 Everyone cracked up laughing. That man was so appreciative that he bought the sign in my bus for $100 (\u00a380) and told me he\u2019d be hanging it in his office.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just one of the times being named James Bond has felt completely surreal.<\/p>\n
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I was actually born in 1953, the same year Ian Fleming\u2019s first James Bond book, Casino Royale, was published. I didn\u2019t know it existed then though.<\/p>\n
Having my name wasn\u2019t an issue until I was about 12 years old in junior high, which is when the first James Bond film, Dr No came to my town in Texas \u2013 two years after its initial release.<\/p>\n
My history teacher actually called me \u201800\u2019 (short for \u2018007\u2019) that same week, but I had no idea what he was talking about. That nickname stuck from that point on, which I was very happy about. It was a welcome change from \u2018Big Foot\u2019 \u2013 all because I was wearing a size 13 shoe by the sixth grade.<\/p>\n
When I eventually went to see the film, I didn\u2019t really relate to the spy protagonist because I was a big nerd in school and not very masculine at all. That didn\u2019t stop me from writing \u2018007\u2019 at the top of my homework, which my teachers found very funny.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not the only time I leant into it. I had the number plate \u2018007\u2019 on my first car, as well as numerous Avon colognes of the same number.<\/p>\n
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There were downsides too, including people like police officers thinking I was showing them a fake ID.<\/p>\n
After a while, I started go by \u2018Jimmy\u2019 because I felt like I was losing my own identity. This wouldn\u2019t stop people from asking me about my relation to the spy when they saw my last name paired with my nickname though.<\/p>\n
In my early 20s, I got married and had two children. My dad really wanted me to call my first son \u2018James Bond\u2019 too as a namesake, but I wasn\u2019t so sure. In the end, we ended up naming him after my late-wife\u2019s father instead.<\/p>\n
When my second son was born, I gave into my father\u2019s pressure and called him James Andrew Bond, but he often prefers to go by \u2018Andy\u2019.<\/p>\n
So, my dad was James Lee Bond \u2013 before Ian Fleming even published his first novel \u2013 I\u2019m James Neal Bond, my son is James Andrew Bond and my grandson is James Cesar Bond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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There\u2019s one major difference I have with James Bond though \u2013 I\u2019m gay.<\/p>\n
I came out to myself at 27, but it wasn\u2019t until I was in my 30s that I sat down with family and friends. I was 31 when I came out to my dad, who said he\u2019d always known.<\/p>\n
At the time, I was actually a pastor for a church, who fired me because of my sexuality. I don\u2019t regret a thing though.<\/p>\n
In fact, being called James Bond has worked really well in gay bars \u2013 people buy me drinks all the time. I\u2019m not the biggest martini fan though, even if you ask me whether I want it shaken or stirred.<\/p>\n
Do I think my life would be different if I was named something else? I couldn\u2019t say, because all I know is the hand I\u2019ve been dealt with.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, 007 has been with me for my whole life \u2013 and I wouldn\u2019t change it.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Hi, I\u2019m Bond. James Bond \u2013 and I\u2019ll be your server today.\u2019<\/p>\n
For the first month or two in my role as a waiter, that\u2019s how I started introducing myself to diners at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll have a martini \u2013 shaken, not stirred,\u2019 some replied. While others opted for a cheeky: \u2018Can I take your car keys?\u2019<\/p>\n
Each time, I simply responded by giving the fakest laugh I could muster. Why? Because my name is a great conversation starter, but it\u2019s even better for tips.<\/p>\n
Someone once gave me a $300 (\u00a3240) tip on a $700 (\u00a3550) bill, which I\u2019d like to think was because I was so charming, but my name probably had a part to play in it. I\u2019ve even had a woman offer to pay me $20 for my name tag, so I agreed and just replaced it for $5.<\/p>\n
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Growing up, I didn\u2019t really know that I shared a name with the famous international spy. For a long time \u2013 to me \u2013 it was just my name. I even recall playing GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64 and still not clocking.<\/p>\n
In elementary school, teachers would laugh their heads off when they\u2019d call out my name, but I had no idea what they were talking about. In fact, I was given the number seven on my jersey when I started playing peewee football.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until sixth or seventh grade that I got in on the joke. I\u2019d have people come up to me in the school halls and say they\u2019ve wanted to meet me for a while \u2013 or introduce their sister, who was in my grade. It\u2019s a little creepy because I wouldn\u2019t know who they were but they would know about me.<\/p>\n
As I grew up, maybe I\u2019ve seen more of the films, but I only really remember 2012\u2019s Skyfall with Daniel Craig. I just recall thinking how much of a badass he was \u2013 and that it was pretty cool to share a name with him. I loved that he was great with the ladies too.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m the fourth generation James Bond in my family, so my great grandfather was actually called it before Ian Fleming even created it.<\/p>\n
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To me, they\u2019re just Dad, Grandpa and Grandad, but we all have nicknames \u2013 I\u2019m JC (James Cesar), my dad is Andy because his middle name is Andrew, then there\u2019s Jamie and Jimmy.<\/p>\n
Before my great grandad\u2019s death, there were moments where we were all in the same room for things like Thanksgiving, but it didn\u2019t really feel like a big deal at the time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the thing \u2013 I\u2019ve always been fairly nonchalant about my name. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s really a leg up and I don\u2019t want to base my entire life or personality on it.<\/p>\n
All I know is that I\u2019d probably have a little less money \u2013 thanks to the tips \u2013 if I was called something else.<\/p>\n