By Tom Brook in New York

Halle Berry is making history as the first Oscar winner ever to play a Bond girl.

In this latest 007 instalment she portrays an American agent who ends up working with Bond to defeat the same villain.

The actress was a little taken aback when first approached for the role because she doesn't see herself fitting into the traditional Bond Girl mould.

I have my personal boundaries set up

Halle Berry

As she recalls: "When they first offered me the part I thought what kind of Bond Girl could I be?

"You know, I really couldn't wrap my brain around it. Then when I read the script I thought 'wow the best kind'.

"I get to be equal to James Bond. How much fun will that be and how empowering will that be - not only for me as a woman and as an actress, but for other women."

'Reflective'

Berry's character is called Jinx, a much less exotic and sexually provocative name than that given to previous Bond girls' Pussy Galore and Plenty O'Toole.

Berry says Jinx is Bond's equal

Berry says: "I think Jinx is also reflective of the new Bond Woman - I didn't get stuck with one of those names."

The actress makes an impressive entrance in Die Another Day emerging bikini-clad from the surf bearing a knife-belt in a screen moment that harkens back to a memorable Ursula Andress scene in the very first Bond film, Dr No in 1962.

Within moments Berry's Jinx is seen flirting with 007, trading those familiar Bond sexual double-entendres.

Berry doesn't view this slightly risqu� sexual humour the least bit old fashioned, quite the contrary.

She says: "I love it when I go see a Bond movie, those great one-liners, those double entendres.

More evolved

"Now that I've been in a movie the challenge was how do you make those lines work and I have much greater respect for the actors and actresses of the past who've had to make those lines work and have done it so well over the years."

I'm not really concerned what people think anymore

Halle Berry

Although Berry claims Jinx represents a more evolved Bond Girl there's plenty of on-screen evidence to suggest she's there to titillate.

But Berry seems to know what she's doing and has strong support from co-star Pierce Brosnan.

As he sees it, the actress, "brings great intelligence to the role, sex appeal, a sense of fun, and she knows exactly her place in history and within the legacy of it and plays it to the hilt."

In Die Another Day Berry is involved in sex scenes with Bond but nothing too explicit.

Steamy scenes

The actress has a reputation for pushing the envelope with her body.

She was seen topless in the action thriller Swordfish, and made quite an impact with her steamy scenes opposite Billy Bob Thornton in last year's Monster's Ball, in the role that won her an Oscar.

Pierce Brosnan will return in a fifth Bond

Some critics thought Berry demeaned herself with the sex in Monster's Ball but she claims not to be perturbed by how others view her work.

Berry says: "I've really evolved into the kind of woman that I'm not really concerned what people think anymore.

"It's a great place to be because I now have those handcuffs off, you know? I used to walk in the shoes of always worrying what people will think about what I do.

"Now I do what I want to do. But I have my personal boundaries set up and those are really for me to know and I won't cross those."

All in all it has been an amazing year for the 34-year-old actress who's won an Oscar, appeared opposite Pierce Brosnan in the most successful franchise in cinema history and is now in talks to create a 007 spin-off based on her Jinx character.

When asked how she views 2002 Berry describes it as, "fabulous, unthinkable, certainly memorable, exciting and tough all at the same time".