Pierce Brosnan – The Smoothest James Bond

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Pierce Brosnan has lived a life that has had as much drama as a lot of movies. As fan, I hope he has found his happily ever after.

GETTING TO KNOW PIERCE BROSNAN:

* Born in Ireland in 1953, but moved to London, England at a very early age.

* When his wife of 11 years, Cassandra Harris, died in 1991, he was left with three children to care for on his own: Two from Cassandra’s first marriage and a son from their marriage. She died, in his arms, one day after their 11th anniversary. She died from ovarian cancer.

* He adopted his first wife Cassandra’s children after their father died in 1986.

* Pierce has a scar above his top lip. He was hit by a stunt man on the making of Tomorrow Never Dies.

* He has two children with his second wife, Keely Shaye Smith. They’ve been married for over 7 years.

* Pierce enjoys fishing.

* He was almost 6 feet tall by the time he was 11 years old! (That’s nearly as fascinating to me as Famke’s feet – see the Famke Janssen post for that one.)

* In addition to his salary for his James Bond movies, Brosnan received cars. Crazy cool cars! The BMW Z3 from GoldenEye, an 8-series BMW from Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Z8 from The World Is Not Enough .

* Like this blogger, Pierce Brosnan is claustrophobic. Apparently this made certain scenes in Dante’s Peak an absolute nightmare.

* After Die Another Day, he was approached by a man in Dublin who asked to shake his hand. Being one of the friendliest and most approachable actors, he shook the man’s hand. He’s said to have cracked up when the man said, “That’s the closest my hand will ever get to Halle Berry’s arse”.

* This is particularly interesting (Yes, even more interesting than Famke’s amazing feet.): On August 12, 1964, as an 11-year-old Pierce flew, for the first time, from Ireland to England. It was the very day that Ian Fleming died.

* He says that his favorite Bond movies are From Russia with Love, and For Your Eyes Only, and that his least favorite Bond movie is On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

* Is an American Citizen but keeps his Irish citizenship as well.

* According to the James Bond tailors, he has the distinction of being both the lightest and heaviest of all the James Bonds! The tailors who fitted him for his Bond films state that in his first Bond movie, Golden Eye in 1995 say that he weighed 164 pounds, making him the lightest actor to play Bond. However, in his fourth Bond movie, Die Another Day in 2002, he weighed 211 pounds, making him the heaviest actor to play Bond.

* Was originally chosen to play 007 in 1986 and was given the script to “The Living Daylights”. Although he was contracted to “Remington Steele” (1982) for seven seasons, NBC decided to cancel the show at the end of the fourth season, which meant that Brosnan was free to play James Bond in The Living Daylights the following year. However, shortly after the end of the fourth season, NBC had second thoughts about canceling Remmington Steele and subsequently approached the Bond producers directly in an attempt to strike a deal that would allow Brosnan to play both James Bond and Remington Steele the following year. NBC also offered to completely reschedule the shooting of Remmington Steele to ensure that there were no scheduling conflicts. But eventually, Albert Broccoli famously told NBC that “James Bond will not be Remmington Steele and Remington Steele will not be James Bond.” Accordingly, Brosnan would only play Bond if the show remained canceled. NBC had a 60 day deadline to revoke their decision to cancel Remmington Steele series and at 6.30pm on the 60th day of the deadline, Brosnan learned that NBC decided to make a fifth season. So, the role of the new James Bond went to Timothy Dalton. NBC went on to make only six episodes of the fifth season of Remmington Steele before finally canceling the show for good.

* He is a professional “fire eater”, having performed a fire eating act in a circus at a young age!

* Something else he has in common with this blogger is he’s an only child.

* He is a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage, gay adoption, gun control and protecting the environment.

* About his first wife, Pierce has said, “Cassie has made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She’s forever embedded in every fiber of my being.”

A few other Pierce Brosnan Quotes:

There was only one Bond for me, and it was Sean Connery. That made the role daunting.

I know most actors say otherwise, but I like sex scenes. Bond was supposed to be this great lover, but I always found the love scenes in those movies a little dull. It’s lovely to work out the fantasy of it all in celluloid and then go home to my wife.

To my eye, women get sexier around 35. They know a thing or two, and knowledge is always alluring.

Bond is an enigma. He’s smooth and bigger than life, but he’s vague as a personality. It’s a little like doing a period piece. Look, I’m thankful, the role made me an international star. I’ve been in the backwaters of Papua New Guinea and heard, “Hey, Bond.”

(On former James Bond George Lazenby) George is just an angry, old, pissed-off guy. He was never an actor, but some pissed-off Aussie who doesn’t know how to show his feminine side. I met him, and he’s got that kind of brittle edge to him.

When you look at Ian Fleming’s work, it’s there on the page. The martinis, the drugs, the cigarettes, the casino, the blood on the hands. But they never went there. Hopefully, they will go there with Daniel (Daniel Craig). They have the product, they have the man, and I’m sure they will.

(on George Lazenby) George seems to be an unhappy camper about Bond. He gets pissy and spits the dummy out. Tim (Timothy Dalton) was fantastic. He really had the balls to go out there and play it on the nose – Ian Fleming undiluted. But where were the laughs? Sean (Sean Connery) was brilliant, he played it dead on the money. And Roger (Roger Moore) really made it his own and went for the laughs. I think those two were the best.

I think Daniel (Daniel Craig) is a very fine actor. These are rocky waters, but I think he will have the last laugh. You get twisted some way or another if you throw yourself into it. There’s going to be mishaps.

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