Pierce Brosnan Once Found the Way He Lost the Role of James Bond ‘Bloody Frustrating’
Actor Pierce Brosnan gained many fans during his time as James Bond. Although he’s since moved on from the role, initially he didn’t agree with how he was ousted. So much so he had some unkind words for those who conspired to give him the ax.
Pierce Brosnan got fired from James Bond over the phone
Brosnan felt the way he was fired from the Bond franchise was a bit unceremonious considering how it happened. The Black Adam star revealed there wasn’t a meeting of any sort to discuss his departure from the franchise. Rather, he was first given the news through an emotional phone call with his agents.
“I was in the Bahamas, working on a movie called After the Sunset and my agents called me up and said, ‘Negotiations have stopped. [Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson] are not quite sure what they want to do. They’ll call you next Thursday, ‘” Brosnan told Some Kind of Hero (via Hindustan Times).
He would later go on to talk to the actual Bond producers about being let go.
“I sat in Richard Harris’s house in the Bahamas, and Barbara and Michael were on the line —‘We’re so sorry.’ She was crying, Michael was stoic and he said, ‘You were a great James Bond. Thank you very much,’ and I said, ‘Thank you very much. Goodbye.’ That was it. I was utterly shocked and just kicked to the curb with the way it went down.”
Pierce Brosnan was furious over being replaced for James Bond
Although Brosnan accepted he was no longer going to be a part of the franchise, he didn’t agree with the reasons. In a resurfaced interview with Playboy (via Pierce Brosnan files), Brosnan discussed what surprised him about the firing.
“It was kind of shocking to have ageism come on me when I was just getting started. It’s shocking to be told that you’re too old, that you’re past your sell-by date,” he said.
Brosnan also didn’t appreciate how cold his firing was considering how close he was to producers.
“It’s bloody frustrating that the f*****s pulled out the rug when they did. It was like, ‘Come on, we’re family here.’ You talk about being a family. You knew my late wife; you know my family now,” he continued. “Yet I get a call from my agents at five in the afternoon in the Bahamas, and I hear that you’ve shut down negotiations because you don’t know how, where or which way to go and that you’ll call me next Friday? What can I say? It’s cold, it’s juvenile, and it shouldn’t be done like that, not after 10 years and four films.”
Still, the Die Another Day star couldn’t help but feel a sense of freedom after he was let go from his duties as 007.
“Later, yes, I had a wonderful feeling of liberation: ‘Ahhhh. I’m free of it.’ I’ll always be known as Bond, but now I don’t have the responsibility of being an ambassador for a small country ruled by a character,” Brosnan said.
Pierce Brosnan refused to give Daniel Craig advice for James Bond
When Craig was first handed the keys to the Bond franchise, the Mamma Mia! alum refused to give his successor any advice. But that was because he felt the actor was skilled enough to not need it.
“I didn’t seek advice from any man before me, and I don’t give any advice to any man after me. He’ll find his own way,” Brosnan said in an interview with ABC News. “He’ll find his own way. He’s a wonderful actor. I wish him all the happiness and success.”
