Trivia

On December 28, 1991, one day after their 11th wedding anniversary, his wife, Cassandra Harris, died in his arms. She died of ovarian cancer. Sadly, the same disease would claim the life of Harris' daughter (and Brosnan's stepdaughter) Charlotte in 2013.

Brosnan's mother, May Smith, was 19 when she gave birth to him. She had married his father, Thomas, on August 16, 1952. However, his parents separated when he was still a baby, and from the age of 4 he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Philip and Kathleen Smith, while his mother went to London to train as a nurse. When he was 6, both grandparents died and he was passed around amongst relatives until Eileen Reilly took him into her lodging house. Finally, when he was 10, his mother was able to take him to her home in Putney, London. While in London, May had met a man, named Bill Carmichael, who had asked her to marry him, but she wanted approval from her son. Pierce gave his approval and the couple were married. From that point on, Bill treated Pierce as his real son and they got along fine. It was Bill who took Pierce to see his first Bond movie, Goldfinger (1964), and it was at that point that decided to take up acting.

After the release of Die Another Day (2002), he was approached by a man in a Dublin bar who asked to shake his hand. He complied and then cracked up when the man said, "That's the closest my hand will ever get to Halle Berry's arse [butt].".

At the age of 11, he was almost six feet tall, making him a target of bullies.

He adopted his first wife Cassandra Harris' children, Charlotte Brosnan (b. 1971, d. 2013) and Christopher Brosnan (b. 1973), after their father died in 1986.

He is a professional "fire eater", having performed a fire eating act in a circus at a young age. Knowing this, the writers for Remington Steele (1982) asked him to hone his skills as a fire eater for an episode during the series' second season, entitled High Flying Steele (1984), where Remington and Laura are to go undercover in a circus. He also performed the act in Pierce Brosnan (1996).

During the restaurant scene in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) when her teeth fell into a wine glass, the cast didn't know Robin Williams would do that, and their reactions on film were genuine, mirroring the shock of the crew.

According to the James Bond tailors in London, he has been both the lightest and heaviest of all the James Bonds. The tailors who fitted him for his Bond films state that in his first Bond movie, GoldenEye (1995), he weighed 164 pounds, making him the lightest actor to play Bond. However, in his fourth Bond movie, Die Another Day (2002), he weighed 211 pounds, making him the heaviest actor to play Bond.

After being chosen to play James Bond, Brosnan wasn't allowed to wear a tuxedo in any other film. This posed a problem for the wardrobe staff of The Thomas Crown Affair (1999).

Is claustrophobic, which made the filming of certain scenes in Dante's Peak (1997) very difficult.

Met his Bond predecessor Sir Sean Connery for the first time at The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004), but only for a few minutes.

In 2004, Quentin Tarantino expressed an interest in directing Brosnan in a version of Casino Royale (2006), but was turned down by the Bond producers.

While it may be incorrect to suggest that Brosnan was fired from the role of James Bond, because technically the producers simply chose not to renew his contract, they had agreed in principle to collaborate on a fifth Bond film before the producers pulled from negotiations. This makes Brosnan the only Bond to end his reign not of his own accord.

Brosnan was chosen to play 007 in 1986 and was given the script to The Living Daylights (1987). Although he was contracted to Remington Steele (1982) for seven seasons, NBC decided to cancel the show at the end of the fourth season, which meant that Brosnan was free to play James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) the following year. However, shortly after the end of the fourth season, NBC had second thoughts about canceling "Remington Steele" and, subsequently, approached the Bond producers, directly, in an attempt to strike a deal that would allow Brosnan to play both "James Bond" and "Remington Steele" the following year. NBC also offered to completely reschedule the shooting of "Remington Steele" to ensure that there were no scheduling conflicts. But eventually, Albert R. Broccoli famously told NBC that "James Bond will not be Remington Steele and Remington Steele will not be James Bond". Accordingly, Brosnan would only play Bond if the show remained canceled. NBC had a 60-day deadline to revoke their decision to cancel the "Remington Steele" series and, at 6:30 pm on the 60th day of the deadline, Brosnan learned that NBC decided to make a fifth season. So, the role of the new James Bond went back to Timothy Dalton. NBC went on to make only six episodes of the fifth season of "Remington Steele" before finally canceling the show for good.

The production of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) was a troubled one, owing in part to the producers agreeing to have the film ready for a December release. Brosnan rejected the script after it had been rewritten; it was then rewritten again during filming by the writer of the original script; director and scriptwriter were not talking to each other, and Brosnan and Teri Hatcher were not compatible. The film cost around $110 million, but only took in more than $346 million at the box office worldwide.

He says that his favorite James Bond films are From Russia with Love (1963) and For Your Eyes Only (1981), and that his least favorite James Bond film is On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

Quit smoking cigarettes before the release of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

His favourite comic actor is the former "Monty Python", John Cleese.

Pierce Brosnan was sworn in as a United States citizen on 23 September 2004 at the U.S. District Court House in Los Angeles. He also holds Irish citizenship. He was made a Freeman of Navan, County Meath, Ireland (the town he lived in until he moved to England in 1964) on 11 November 1999. His primary residence is in Malibu, California.

In addition to his salary for his James Bond movies, Brosnan received an automobile. The BMW Z3 from GoldenEye (1995), an 8-series BMW (instead of the 750iL) from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and the Z8 from The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Close friends with Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep.

He was the deadliest of the Bonds killing 135 in 4 films.

In 1993, he was willing to play the small role of Stu Dunmeyer in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Chris Columbus thought him a phenomenal actor.

Director Chris Columbus is a huge fan of James Bond and he was crushed when Brosnan didn't get cast when he was offered the role during the making of Remington Steele (1982) but they wouldn't release him from his contract. When they worked together in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Columbus told Brosnan he would make a great James Bond but he thought that ship had sailed. In 1995, MGM called Columbus telling him they are looking for the new James Bond and Brosnan was one of the choices so Columbus recommended him; his little contribution to the James Bond series.

A lifelong Catholic, he regularly attends mass at his local church in Malibu, California.

He studied under Yat Malmgren, a dancer and drama teacher who also worked with Sean Connery in the 1950s and is credited with helping him develop a strong sense of movement and presence.

Graduated from the prestigious acting course at the Chang-Ren Nian, then in Kentish Town, an area in the North London borough of Camden.

To date, is the only Bond actor to have never technically appeared in a Bond film based on an original Ian Fleming novel or short story.

He says that the first two films he saw at the cinema, Goldfinger (1964) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), are also the two films that have had the most influence on him.

The very first film he claims to have seen is the 007 movie Goldfinger (1964).

In 2001, he was voted "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine.

Is the third actor to play James Bond in more than two films, along with Sean Connery and Roger Moore. The fourth one is Daniel Craig.

Early in his screen career, he portrayed the title role in the TV series, Remington Steele (1982). His character was a career criminal gone "straight" as a private investigator, with an amazing knowledge of and obsession with classic cinema. In the episode, To Stop a Steele (1983) (original air date 2/11/83, episode 15), Steele equates the case he is working on to The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), starring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. Sixteen years later, Brosnan starred in the remake of that movie, The Thomas Crown Affair (1999).

Owns his own production company, Irish DreamTime. Its first release was The Nephew (1998).

Became a father for the first time at age 30 when his first wife Cassandra Harris gave birth to their son Sean William Walter Brosnan, aka Sean Brosnan, on 13 September 1983.

Nicknamed "Colonel Chunky" by the crew on Mamma Mia! (2008).

He was given an honorary OBE by Britain's ambassador to Ireland, Stewart Eldon, on 8/19/03. Honorary OBEs are awarded on merit by the Queen to non-British citizens who have made an important contribution to British interests. The award formally makes him "an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire".

Shares two roles with two previous James Bonds. He and Sean Connery have also both played King Arthur. He and David Niven have also both played Phileas Fogg, Niven in Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and Brosnan in Around the World in 80 Days (1989).

He was born just over a month after "Casino Royale" (1952), the first James Bond novel, was published, making him the first actor to play James Bond born after the character was created.

Became a father for the third time at age 47 when his fiancée [now second wife] Keely Shaye Brosnan gave birth to their son Paris Beckett Brosnan on 27 February 2001.

Is a huge fan of Doctor Who (1963).

He was the last James Bond actor to be born before the movie series began in 1962 or before James Bond creating author Ian Fleming's death on August 12, 1964.

He is a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage, gay adoption, gun control and protecting the environment.

He was the first choice for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman (1989) and even met with Tim Burton about the project which he turned down, saying he couldn't take the role seriously.

His paycheck for his Bond debut GoldenEye (1995) was US$ 4 million, which rose to US$ 16.5 million for his final outing Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and he left the franchise after a mutual settlement with EoN Productions worth US$ 21 million, making him before then the highest paid Bond actor when unadjusted for inflation.

Out of the six James Bond actors, Brosnan is the only one who's married and hasn't divorced (Timothy Dalton never married).

At the Genesis Awards Ceremony, reunited with Remington Steele (1982) co-star Stephanie Zimbalist. (1996)

Brosnan's Bond was mainly dressed with shirts and ties from Turnbull & Asser, shoes from Church's, and suits from the Italian company Brioni. The cuff links and the belts were mostly Dunhill's.

Became a father for the second time at age 43 when his girlfriend [now second wife] Keely Shaye Brosnan gave birth to their son Dylan Thomas Brosnan on 13 January 1997.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 4, 1997.