Pierce Brosnan Once Felt That He Looked Too Handsome to Play James Bond

Pierce Brosnan once shared what it was like finally being able to play James Bond after losing out on the role in his much younger years.

James Bond star Pierce Brosnan was seen as the perfect fit for the role of 007 back in his day. But Brosnan felt he only managed to take the Bond mantle after his looks changed over the years.

Pierce Brosnan felt he had to grow into James Bond

It seems the stars aligned for Brosnan perfectly when he was cast as Bond back in the 90s. He was initially considered for the role a decade prior. In 1986, Bond producer Albert Broccoli screen-tested Brosnan for the film. Brosnan’s audition was impressive enough that he most likely would’ve been cast as the character for the 1987 film The Living Daylights. But because of his contractual obligations to the show Remington Steele, Brosnan’s schedule wouldn’t permit him to do the movie. Which he admitted bothered him in a resurfaced interview with Redbook.

“The only thing I could think was that it was just business,” Brosnan said. “And it wasn’t until six months later that I began to think, I could have been there, I could have done that. But it also gave me a hunger and a desire to get there. I just thought, F*** you, I’m going to get there.”

Brosnan kept true to his word. After Dalton’s 1989 feature License to Kill, Bond producers felt it was time for the MI6 agent to go in a new direction. When they circled back to Brosnan eight years later, this time he was able to secure the role. And in hindsight, he felt it might’ve been a good thing he didn’t end up with Bond in his younger years.

“Again I have been very fortunate that I did not get Bond when I was supposed to get it,” Brosnan once told Phase 9. “I was too young. My features were too handsome, too good looking – call it what you will. I always used to think that if I was about a foot shorter I would be more talented and if I had a broken nose I would be really talented. Some guy will read this and say ‘I’ll give you a broken nose if you want’. I’m sure if someone were to dig out that screen test that I did in 1986 they would just howl. So it did come at the right time when there was a little bit of gravitas to the soul and the heart.”

Pierce Brosnan felt Timothy Dalton would’ve still been James Bond if it wasn’t for this one factor

Brosnan was fortunate that Dalton stepped away from the James Bond series when he did. It’d been six years between Dalton’s last Bond film License to Kill and Die Another Day. Despite the long gap, the Broccolis planned on bringing Dalton back for Bond. And Dalton almost signed on, although he initially had reservations about returning in the beginning.

“[Broccoli] asked if I would come back, and I said, ‘Well, I’ve actually changed my mind a little bit. I think that I’d love to do one,’” Dalton once said according to Express.

But Dalton wasn’t ready for the long commitment that was required to play the character.

“And he said, quite rightly, ‘Look, Tim. You can’t do one. There’s no way, after a five-year gap between movies that you can come back and just do one. You’d have to plan on four or five,’” Dalton remembered. “And I thought, ‘Oh, no, that would be the rest of my life. Too much. Too long.’ So I respectfully declined.”

But Brosnan felt if Dalton had the support of director Martin Campbell, he might still be attached to the role. Campbell filmed the first Bond feature Goldeneye, and Brosnan felt the filmmaker was essential in his casting.

“And I had the great Martin Campbell who was ferocious in his tenacity and preparation and his vision of what Bond should be. I was very lucky because I think that possibly if Timothy Dalton had had Martin Campbell I wouldn’t be here. Because Tim had that determination and he is a very fine actor. It’s just that he wasn’t supported in the same way that I was,” Brosnan said.