Pierce Brosnan: Bond and Beyond

Speak Up Magazine Nº 160

February 1999

By Carlos Castañón

With TV's Remington Steele, Ian Fleming's 007, DANTE'S PEAK, MARS ATTACKS, as well as the soon to be shot GREY OWL directed by Richard Attenborough, and the remake of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, Pierce Brosnan has now added yet another feather to his cap, this time as a producer. THE NEPHEW, the first for his production company, Irish Dream Time, established in 1995, represents the actor's departure from his usual role. Before shooting the latest Bond film scheduled for January 1999, he toured Europe promoting THE NEPHEW. SPEAK UP spoke with him:

SPEAK Up (Standard American): Will the new James Bond film begin shooting as scheduled?

PIERCE BROSNAN (Standard British): If we start on time, if we start in January, we'll be fine. But we'll probably, and hopefully we'll start in February, because I want to have more holiday.

SPEAK UP: How do you feel about Michael Apted as a director?

PIERCE BROSNAN: Very good. Very good. Not an obvious choice, maybe. He hasn't, he hasn't done action; I think he would be the first one to say that. But I think for where I would like to go, and what I want to do with it, the role, third time out, I think he is a very fitting choice. He's very good on character, he's very good on relationship, he's very good on the tension and the drama of character and I think he's got great style and taste.

SPEAK UP: Valentine in the new Bond film, will be more of a protagonist. How do you feel about his return?

PIERCE BROSNAN: I think his return is wonderful. We have a twists on it. But Robbie's larger than life6 and Michael and I were talking about it the other day in London, and I think what he wants to do with it ... Michael ... because Robbie's character is very good.

SPEAK UP: Do you feel that THE NEPHEW will benefit the Irish film industry?

PIERCE BROSNAN: I think the Irish film industry will survive and thrive with or without THE NEPHEW. I am part of the Irish Film Commission, now, which I'm not quite sure what that means, and I think I should investigate it a bit further before I go saying that I'm par-t of it The ambition, the dream, the want was to make a film in Ireland.

SPEAK UP: How much freedom did you have as a producer?

PIERCE BROSNAN: I had enormous freedom. Let me put it this way, I didn't feel any censorship8. The casting was a lot to do with me. The locations were. I couldn't be there because I was shooting another film, DANTE'S PEAK, at the time. But I had wanted a house, a home for the character of Tony, something which was large, something which was old, lonely, sad. On that creative side, on the casting side, on the story, some of the bits of it was me, the writing. And then in the making of it, I had to meet with the financiers and be nice and be wonderful and cajole and have dinners and tell them how wonderful it was going and lie sometimes because you hadn't made the days work and some actor busted his back or you know, so it was pretty kind of nerve-racking. I had to drive myself to work. I'm used to people driving me to work. I'm not used. No. Wrong word. I get driven to work as an actor So as a producer, they, you know, you drive yourself, and I'm useless with directions. Getting lost. Just worrying about, "Is it going to be OK, What have we done, My God is this going to work?" And you know, as an actor, I know how to prepare, I know the stresses and the strains of it, but as a producer it was a whole new area.

SPEAK UP: How did being a producer affect you as an actor?

PIERCE BROSNAN: I forgot about giving a performance, to tell the truth. At times I was so worried about everybody on the set an it being good and that certainly was like, "Oh my God", now I have to, you know, I have a performance opposite Donal McCann, who I've cast, who I want, who's a really good actor. And Hill Harper who is a really good actor, who I cast. We watched the tapes we did the screen tests.

SPEAK UP: How do you this film will project Aislin McGuckin?

PIERCE BROSNAN: Oh, I think her career is just starting, it’s just taking off. I think, would like to think when people see it they will fall in love with her. I would like to think when people see it, they will say, "what a beautiful face, what an amazing presence, what a gorgeous young woman." So, for me that would be magnificent. The same for Hill Harper. I, you know, it would be great, it would just make my heart sing, to think I have something to do with some one's career.

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