Pierce Brosnan: Unfinished Business (1995 Movieline article)

[TMC]

http://lebeauleblog.com/2015/11/03/p...shed-business/

In this interview from the November 1995 issue of Movieline, Brosnan discusses being abandoned by his parents, losing his first wife to cancer and his frustrated career ambitions. Despite everything Brosnan has been through, he has a very positive outlook in life. At the time, the future of the Bond franchise and Brosnan’s career were both very uncertain. But the actor was looking forward to the challenge before him.

Q: The last time we talked, you were playing Steele–you’d re-placed Tom Selleck as a TV heartthrob, and were about to be replaced in turn by Don Johnson. Not much is heard about Selleck and Johnson these days. How much of your career is luck, how much is timing and how much is talent?

A: All three come into play. It does help if you have talent, if you have a tiny piece of gold that you can polish. You also have to have the courage to go through all the negativity of the business. Timing? Yes. I’ve known better actors than me, men who can turn their hand at any character with great deftness and clarity, but they haven’t had any breaks. Luck? I’ve been very lucky, though if I told you my life story, you would say, “Well, you’ve had bad luck here and there.” It’s just bloody hard work being an actor and keeping the dream alive.

Q: What about fate? Did you ever feel you were fated to play Bond? Goldfinger was the first Technicolor film you saw as a boy, and your late wife, Cassie, played a Bond woman in For Your Eyes Only …

A: That seems to be the case. Bond was unfinished business in my life, because wherever I’ve gone since 1986 people have always asked: “Weren’t you the guy who was going to be, could have been, should have been, might have been .,.” It’s quite scary that something like this should come around a second time.

Q: Do you worry that Bond may be a dated character? That heroes like Indiana Jones or Batman will make 007 seem like a relic?

A: My gut feeling is no. There’s a big audience out there waiting.

Q: How often did you practice those famous five words before your mirror?

A: “My name’s Bond, James Bond”? I’ve actually said those words, yes, in front of the mirror, and in the car. If someone catches you doing it, it can be very embarrassing.

Q: You felt you were selling out doing TV. Why were movies so important to you?

A: There’s a great magic to them. Simple as that. And I wanted to be part of that magic.

Q: You told me that Steele was the most stressful job you’d ever had. Did some of that stem from the jealousy that existed between Stephanie Zimbalist and yourself?

A: Yeah. There was never an open animosity between us, though–it was never a set like Moonlighting, where Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd were at each other’s throats, if you believe everything you read.

[Fallon97]

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