Britt Ekland says #MeToo has made being a man 'very hard' as behaviour that was once laughed off will now get you into 'serious trouble'

Britt Ekland has said the #MeToo movement makes it “very hard” to be a man as behaviour that was once laughed off will now get you into “serious trouble”.

Famed for her Bond Girl status, Ekland said “times have changed” since starring opposite Roger Moore in The Man with the Golden Gun.

“Back then it was hard to be a woman. And nowadays it's very hard to be a man,” Ekland told Event magazine.

“Times have changed but it was how we grew up. At school when you started wearing a bra, the boy sitting behind you in the class would flick it undone and everyone would laugh. Now that boy would be in serious trouble.”

Ekland lived a whirlwind life in her younger years, socialising with royalty as well as having two rock songs written about her by ex-boyfriend Rod Stewart.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s she starred in numerous cult films, including The Wicker Man, but revealed she often “hated” working on the classic as “it was all about running around topless in the cold”.

“When I started out it wasn't so easy for women, especially if you wanted to work and get on,” she said.

According to the 77-year-old, sexual harassment was “rampant” and “expected” in as a young actress in the 1960s, but now “everyone will listen” to women’s complaints in light of the #MeToo movement.

“That sort of thing wasn't just normal,” Ekland explained. “It was pretty much what you expected when you went along for a job with a director or a producer. It was rampant. And girls just went with it.

“You smiled politely and, yes, you did have to do things you didn't want to do, but show me an actress of my age who hasn't had that experience.

“It was a very different time. I think it's amazing these #MeToo girls can get up and scream and shout and everyone will listen.”