Despite having played James Bond in seven films, Sir Roger Moore doesn't consider himself much of an actor. His new book, "One Lucky Bastard," recounts many of the stories he's collected over the course of a career that he loved but one that he never thought he excelled at.

"It's my life," Moore told MTV News over the phone, explaining the book's title. "I've been exceptionally lucky with a minimum of talent and a modest background."

That luck didn't just bring him stardom and famous friends -- he considered Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck his closest friends. He also lived through and worked through many different eras of Hollywood, and picked up more than a few interesting stories.

One that he shared with us will no doubt be of interest to longtime fans of the Bond series.

In the early '70s, Moore bumped into a young Steven Spielberg at the Plaza Anténé In Paris.

"We sat, and we talked. He said he would love to direct a Bond," Moore said. "At this time, all I knew about him was that I had seen 'Duel,' which I thought was a superb bit of moviemaking, and he wasn't that known at that time."

Moore passed along the note to producer Cubby Broccoli, who in turn shot Spielberg down.

"Spielberg wanted a piece, and Cubby didn't want to give anything away," Moore said. "He didn't want to give any more points of Bond away to directors coming in."

Spielberg has opened up about his attempts to direct a Bond movie on a couple of occasions, but Moore figures that the work he did instead of 007 pushed the spy series to new height.

"Spielberg made 'Indiana Jones,' which really is one step beyond Bond," Moore said. "That made Bond step up."

"One Lucky Bastard" is available now, with proceeds going to benefit UNICEF.