Actress Lesley-Anne Down described three frightening encounters in an interview with Fox News Digital, recalling experiences that began when she was a child in England and continued into adulthood.
Down said that when she was 10, her mother became alarmed after hearing about the murder of another girl with a similar name and age, Lesley Ann Downey. Downey was one of five children murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between 1963 and 1965, according to the source material. Down said the news unsettled her family, though she was not the victim.
The following year, Down recalled, she ran ahead of her mother while they were returning from a launderette. A man approached her on a footbridge and, she said, tried to lure her into his car by claiming he needed a babysitter. Down said seeing her mother interrupted the encounter and the man left.
At 18, Down said she entered a car she believed was a taxi while in the countryside. She noticed it lacked features she expected and asked the driver to stop. When he refused, Down said she jumped from the moving vehicle, injuring herself. She said the driver shut the door and drove away.
Down, known for roles in "North and South" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," also spoke about portraying Margaret Thatcher opposite Dennis Quaid in "Reagan." She said she had declined two opportunities to play a Bond girl, explaining that she did not want to be identified with the role.
Asked what advice she would offer women pursuing work in Hollywood, Down recommended having someone accompany them. Her comments about the past encounters and her career were made in the interview; the source material does not provide independent confirmation of the incidents.
