Aging has never been a problem for Jane Seymour. Even at 56, she makes boyish fantasies come true (see Wedding Crashers).

But can she dance?

Oh, who are we trying to kid. The woman can move like an old, er, young pro.

"My body is capable of doing things I didn't think it was capable of doing," the actress was saying on a recent conference call.

Good thing, since Seymour has signed herself up for the fifth season of the sweaty ballroom standoff known as Dancing With the Stars.

Luckily, decades before Seymour became Roger Moore's Bond girl in Live and Let Die, found small screen fame in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and flashed her breasts in the aforementioned Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn flick, she was a budding dancer in London, England.

"When I was 16, all I wanted to do in life was be a dancer," says Seymour, who studied ballet while in theatre school. "I then injured my knees and spent more time in the hospital than I did on stage."

Seymour gave up her dream to become an actress -- a smart move, if her collection of Golden Globes and Emmys is any indication. But ever since she's been wanting to get on the dance floor to prove she can move with the best of 'em.

Dancing With the Stars' producers offered to grant her wish for the past couple of seasons, but Seymour turned them down because she was still recovering from back surgery in 2003. She was also hesitant to leave her mother -- who had suffered a stroke -- back home in England. But seeing as how DWTS is her mother's favourite show, she couldn't say no when the opportunity presented itself again.

"She attempted to talk very animatedly and she got very very excited when she found out I was going to do this in her honour," Seymour says. "Hopefully I do my mother and anyone with injuries -- and advanced age -- a favour."

Seymour's partner, Tony Dovolani -- whose past partners include Sara Evans and Leeza Gibbons -- has taken care of that "advanced age" thing by whipping her into cha-cha shape. He's a tough coach, but she says his lessons have done wonders for her back and her stiff "British hips."

"He's been trying to train my hips -- which are very British -- to do all kinds of wiggly things," laughs the petit Brit. "We've been practising now for just over three weeks and without trying I've lost 14 pounds and I'm in the best shape I've been since I was 16. I feel like a 5-year-old who's discovered dance class. It's totally brought joy to my life."

Foxtrot and cha-cha are first up. When Dancing With the Stars premieres tonight, Seymour will face off against her female competitors -- Spice Girl Melanie Brown, Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan, actress Jennie Garth, model Josie Maran and Marie Osmond. Tomorrow, the stage goes to the men -- Indy 500 champ Helio Castroneves, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, soap star Cameron Mathison, boxer Floyd Mayweather, model Albert Reed and Wayne Newton. Dolly Parton performs musically on Wednesday's first elimination show.

As the oldest female celebrity dancer in DWTS history, the short rehearsal time between shows worries Seymour: "There comes a point at a certain age where you don't remember when you brushed your teeth. Can you imagine trying to learn a dance?" But not too much.

"I'm not really going to consider worrying about competition because I'm going to go out there and do the best that I can."