Pierce Brosnan, one of only six men alive who can ask for a martini “shaken, not stirred,” and not sound like a pompous buffoon, learned that he was finished playing James Bond while shooting a movie in the Bahamas. “My agents called me up,” he revealed in Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films, “and said, ‘Negotiations have stopped’… I was utterly shocked and just kicked to the curb with the way it went down.”
Brosnan was replaced, if we’re being kind; fired, if we’re not. Producers are showing the current Bond, Daniel Craig, whose Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre have earned approximately A LOT of money, more respect. It’s his choice whether he’s done saving the world and kissing beautiful women in exotic locales, and according to Craig’s good friend, Kingsman: The Secret Service star Mark Strong, he’s made up his mind.
“Do you know what, I’d have loved to have played the villain in a Bond movie while Daniel was doing it because he’s a pal and that would have been great. But I think he’s come to the end of his Bond time and so it’s probably never going to happen, but that would have always been great. Having played so many villains, it would have been wonderful to have done the villain of villains, if you like. Because a Bond villain has a status all of his own.”
Strong added that “there are powers at work greater than us who make all these decisions,” which does make it sound like Craig is being pushed out by Sony,” and “I think he feels like he’s mined it,” which doesn’t. Either way, Craig may have starred in better Bond movies, but Brosnan appeared in the best Bond video game. So, how his 007 career ended notwithstanding, he wins.
(Via ShortList)
