GQ: Pierce Brosnan on How It All Began--and How Bond Ended

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2014/08/pierce-brosnan-bond-fired-interview.html

Just came across this today and thought I'd share it. It's an interview with Pierce Brosnan from August 2014 on his life and the end of his Bond era.

Pretty interesting, although nothing we haven't heard/read before. I honestly can't blame the guy for not wanting to let that job go. As Bond fans, would you? Must've been hell to get tossed away for a new actor, but Brosnan seemed to handle it professionally.

Quote :

...And then it came back around, and then I did my full contract, which was for four movies; they invited me back, and I remember distinctly being in the beach house in Malibu and the phone rang, and Michael and Barbara [Cubby's heirs] said, "We'd love you to do the fifth." And I said, "I'd love to." I put the phone down; I said to my wife, Keeley, I said, "OK. Go build your dream-house. Because I'm doing a movie. They've just invited me back." And then I went off to do a movie in that interim time, After the Sunset, and one day I was going out onto the set, and the phone rang, and it was my agent, and they said, "Listen. They've started negotiations on the film." I said, "OK, what does that mean?" He says, "Well, they don't want to negotiate anymore. They'll call you next Thursday." I said, "OK." So I waited a whole week, and then the next Thursday came, and I was in the Bahamas—I think I was staying at Richard Harris's house with Richard and his family; there's an interconnectedness there. And Michael and Barbara said they'd rethought the character and were putting it on hold and we said goodbye. And that was it. Alright. You were a good Bond. So that's how it went down that time. And that certainly dug into the solar plexus of life, just because it was pretty gut-wrenching and because it had been somewhat heralded that I was coming back. So, it's just business. And you're the one caught in the crosshairs. And, you know, my press agent at the time said, "You should resign. You should resign." And I said, "No, I don't want to do that, because that's a lie. It's a lie onto myself; it's their decision. Let it be their decision, and however you want to look at it, however it will be defined, then let it find its own course." So you get on and you work. You just get back in the ring, and try to define yourself and not let there be angst over it. Head up, shoulders back. So yeah, there's those kind of blows. And then it's well-documented: the loss of my wife and my daughter. Those are deep. Those leave you rudderless, adrift, and gasping for air, that pain.

Guess it depends which magazine he's talking to. He sounded more bitter in his Playboy interview.

Brosnan: It’s bloody frustrating that the f*ckers pulled the rug when they did. It was like, “Come on, we’re family here. You talk about being a family. You know my late wife; you know my family now. 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. wrote:

I'm glad Brosnan cooled off, because in reality he should have just been grateful for getting to do a full contract. His career was in the pits before he was offered a second chance as Bond, and it really rejuvenated his career. It's nice that he finally came to terms, but he could have easily shown more class with his exit.

Also, seems his memory is off. He claims to have been with Richard Harris when the call happened, but Harris already passed away before DAD premiered. Maybe it was just his family.

If you have to take a call about the loss of the best 'gig' you've had to date, I'd wager there are worse places to do so than the Bahamas.

Brozza ought to be glad it lasted as long as it did. In terms of paychecks he went out on a high, did some flicks after Bond he wouldn't have landed without.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

If you have to take a call about the loss of the best 'gig' you've had to date, I'd wager there are worse places to do so than the Bahamas.  

True that.

That's not to say an actor can't invest their heart and soul in a particular role, but nothing lasts forever, and four films and a phukload of cash is nothing to sneeze at.