Although On Her Majesty’s Secret Service remains one of my favorite Bond movies, I can’t ignore that George Lazenby’s portrayal of James Bond is somewhat uneven. He has undeniable charm and conviction, but his impersonation of Sir Hilary Bray occasionally feels less like an undercover performance and more like Lazenby’s natural role.

In fact, I’d argue Lazenby portrays Sir Hilary almost as convincingly, if not more so, than James Bond himself. His nerdy mannerisms and higher-pitched, nasally voice feel surprisingly genuine, making the transformation into the stuffy genealogist one of the more convincing aspects of his performance. And then, in the ultimate dork move, he invites Ruby Bartlett to call him “Hilly,” which may be the least intimidating nickname ever.

The irony is that the more time Lazenby spends pretending to be Sir Hilary, the less time we get to appreciate him actually being Bond. For a movie that gives Lazenby a single opportunity to define his version of 007, having so much of his screen time consumed by “Hilly” feels like a missed opportunity.