Entertainment Weekly calls it "babe-ability--the ability to conquer more than just villains." We call it the sizzle factor. Sex appeal, sexual charisma, the ability to make gorgeous women fall into his arms and bed. Whatever you call it, Bond has to have it. No Bond movie is complete without a luscious woman (or two) in a steamy embrace (or three).

"Sexily sinister and dangerously good-looking" could be a description of James Bond but it's not. It's the way a writer for "Cosmopolitan" described Bruce Payne.

Bruce undeniably has the sizzle factor. His intense physical presence, manly good looks, well-toned masculine physique, dazzling smile, a platinum-grade charm that oozes through even in his most villainous roles, and the sexiest blue eyes since Paul Newman guarantee that Bruce will be believable as the spy no woman can resist.

Here's one fan response to the question of Bruce's babe-ability: "Two words. Baby blues." It's unquestionably Bruce's eyes that his women fans swoon over the most. "Mesmerizing," "hypnotizing," "bewitching," "leaves you spellbound," "beautiful and brilliant," "sparkling," and "his eyes speak volumes" are just a few of the phrases used to describe Bruce's expressive pale blue-grey eyes. Eyes that are sexy-scary in one film, tender and full of desire in another.

Evidence of Bruce's on-screen sexiness is not hard to find. As secret operative Jurgen in the TV series "La Femme Nikita," the developing romance with Nikita kept fans glued expectantly to the screen over the three episodes of this story line. Jurgen was, in fact, voted the most popular character that year, tying with Nikita herself. Mysterious, with a shady past but one of the "good guys," Jurgen is sweetly and subtly tantalizing. When he finally gets to kiss Nikita, the collective sigh could be heard round the TV world. Female fans got two treats--the steamy kiss and Bruce without his shirt (how DID he get that shirt off with only one hand, while holding Nikita with the other?!) Any woman who doesn't think this scene sizzles needs to put herself in a microwave and set it on Thaw!

The directors, perhaps understanding that Bruce's sex appeal has no need to advertise itself in neon lights, have opted to make the sex scenes in two of his movies subtle and sensuous rather than hot and heavy. In "Ripper," two tortured souls allow themselves to become vulnerable to each other in a tender, understated embrace far more intense and passionate than many that are much more graphic. In "Kounterfeit," when Frankie slowly carries Colleen up the stairs and falls into bed kissing her, fans sigh. But when he looks up at her with his shirt half open, his long blond hair undone, and those mesmerizing eyes, we melt. His eyes convey so much--wonder, astonishment, desire. Every woman who watched that movie must have secretly wished that her man would look at her that way. Oh yes, bedroom eyes indeed.

In "Highlander: Endgame," the scene between Kell and Faith sizzles merely because of Bruce's sinuous voice and sexy eyes alone. The archvillain Jakob Kell, annoyed at his lover Faith for being, well--unfaithful, eyes her with a lazy insolence that says "I still own you." The scene crackles with sexual tension as he slowly draws his leather-gloved hand across her lips, the only actual physical contact between them. Nothing more is needed to make us shiver.

Babe-ability? Bond has to have it and Bruce has got it.