IN the early 60s, Britt Ekland was sipping cappuccinos with an American girlfriend in Rome, unaware she was being watched by a certain New York talent scout.

"He came over and asked me if I wanted to do a screen test," she recalls.

"Literally, the next day I was in New York, training at drama school. After three weeks they gave me a screen test, then a contract to do movies with 20th Century Fox.

"I knew I wouldn't stay in Sweden. It wasn't a case of being special I just knew my head was in a different place, so when I left I never went back to live - although I do visit."

Today, Britt Ekland is a 60s and 70s icon.

Her marriage to Peter Sellers and her relationship with Rod Stewart have cemented her association with that era - as have appearances in cult classics of the time, such as The Wicker Man and Get Carter.

Not to mention her role as the cookie Goodnight in the 1974 Bond film, The Man With The Golden Gun - something that immortalised her as a Bond Girl. And it has become the role for which she is perhaps best remembered.

It is surprising then, given her exuberant personality, that she is reticent about discussing the past.

At the launch of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre's pantomimine - a production of Aladdin in which Britt plays the genie - journalists were instructed not to mention Peter Sellers. And memories of the 60s, though touched upon, seemed somehow tainted with a certain bitterness or regret.

"I was never young in the 60s because I was married to an older man (Sellers). I do not look back on those times. I only look forward. There is no point in looking back, it's all in the past.

"People have lost loves and they must have loved that person at one point, but the fact that it didn't last is the reality. You did love them at one point but it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to."

One cannot help but feel that she is referring particularly to her broken marriage to Sellers.

A new film has been made of the late actor's life - presumably what prompted the barring of his name from interviews - and this may well have stirred some painful memories.

She does recall the local area with a certain fondness that does not seem to extend to the marriage that brought her here.

"I lived in Elstead when I was 20, because I was married to Peter Sellers. I have very strong memories of the area - and remember Farnham as well, though it ws a long time ago.

" I had horses and I used to ride a lot and drive around in my car. Back then Guildford was my local city."

Britt is back in Guildford at the end of the year. The panto - which runs from December 10 to January 5 - co-stars Sylvester McCoy. And she's happy to be back in a medium that she has come to love.

"The first pantomime I did was 12 years ago and I played the genie then too.

I was playing opposite Brian Conley, Michael Elphick and Danny La Rue. That's how I started.

"I like pantomime people. They are always wonderful, unbelievably professional people who work incredibly hard. The dames are always fun and there is a fabulous camaraderie.

"It is very difficult to do a show two times a day unless you are really enjoying it and you all get along. There's no point otherwise."

Pantomime, Britt tells me, can be a tremendous antidote to the stage fright that she continues to suffer.

"You cannot even begin to imagine how horrible it is. Your body just disappears. Everything is just a sick, sweaty, confused blur.

"You turn to jelly and just wish that you could die but you can't.

"I think that pantomime is a good way to do stage work while also coping with the nerves, because it is just so much fun.

"While it is just as hard as a normal play, it is more colourful, more frivolous and more costumes are involved, which can detract from the nerves."

Britt recounts stories of the various mishaps that have beset her during her years in panto.

These involve falling off a magic carpet, walking on without her wig and her dressing room key dropping out of her bra on stage.

She adopts a forlorn tone, though, when discussing the state of the theatre today.

"It is very difficult at the moment. The touring theatres are having a very hard time. The West End is having a problem too. Unless it is a very big, expensive Lloyd Webber production people just don't want to know.

"It is a real shame but you can't change people's minds. I used to do one production a year plus panto but this is difficult now.

"When people go to the theatre they want to see something that is already a hit."

In recent years Britt has become largely a stage actress. Her career began in film and later switched over to television. Stage came later. In the early days, though, she tells me that this kind of crossover was more difficult to make.

"In the 60s and the 70s, there were two types of actresses. There was one type who did film and one type who did television - and they were entirely separate. I started out as the type who did film.

"It was not until the late 70s that you began being able to mingle the two. That's when I started doing a bit of television."

Britt talks about the 1970s as a time of great excesses. She tells me that a lot people she knew from that era have diedfrom drink or drug abuse.

"The late 70s were good fun but sometimes it was too much fun. Lots and lots of partying. When you are younger you can do that but not when you get a bit older.

"If you went out with an older rock star, in his 60s, you would see that they can't keep living like that. Look at Mick Jagger now, going out jogging all the time and looking after himself."

From Britt Ekland's youthful appearance it is clear that she has looked after herself too, and with her resolute attitudes towards the past and the future, it is clear that she will continue to do so.