(Credits: Far Out / Vestron Pictures Pictures)
Sat 16 August 2025 14:45, UK
As speculation swirls around who will be the next James Bond, now is a good time to look back at some of the great 007s of the past. Before Daniel Craig took the franchise in a new, darker direction, fans of the superspy were being entertained by the somewhat lighter adventures of Pierce Brosnan.
The four films in which he played the iconic character don’t all hold up, but he played a vital role in carrying him into the 21st century. Also, he helped give the world GoldenEye 007 on the N64, so he’s obviously the best Bond ever.
Perhaps more than any of his MI6 compatriots, Brosnan had a decent career both before and after gaining his licence to kill. Since handing back his gun, he’s starred in huge productions like Black Adam, Black Bag, and Mamma Mia! He’ll soon be taking up the part of Ron Ritchie in the Netflix adaptation of The Thursday Murder. While his pre-Bond career included hits like Remington Steele and Mrs. Doubtfire, it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
After Remington Steele ended in 1987, Brosnan’s career entered a bit of a slump. In an interview with Irish America magazine, he described this period as “a low point in my life”. Thankfully, salvation was on hand in the form of director Bruce Beresford. The Australian filmmaker – best known for the Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy – cast Brosnan in his new film Mister Johnson, and the actor was very grateful for the opportunity to prove himself.
“He gave me great confidence to do it,” he said. “He gave me just the simplicity of being real. He’s very good at creating that ambience for actors. He has a wonderful way of making it feel like [a] documentary… it was great to make that movie because it was at a hard time in my life. And I was at the end of the earth doing it. Nigeria, the end of the earth. Living in a tree house.” Unfortunately, while this was a personally redeeming project for Brosnan, it yielded very little financial gain. According to what Beresford told his leading man, “twelve people saw it.”
Mister Johnson, which came out in 1990, is set in British-ruled Nigeria in 1929. The eponymous character (Maynard Eziashi) is a local man who works for a colonialist judge (Brosnan). Johnson believes that, by being more like the British, he is leading a more worthwhile life. This attitude brings him into conflict with his fellow Nigerians.
Even though only a dozen people witnessed this collaboration, Beresford wasn’t put off working with the dashing Irishman. In 2002, he cast Brosnan in his biographical drama Evelyn. He plays a man who has to fight the courts in Ireland in order to see his children again. Not only did Brosnan star in the film, he also produced it.
It might not have broken box office records or been seen by enough people to fill a rugby team, but Mister Johnson will always hold a special place in the mind of its star. Brosnan needed this confidence boost more than anything. Without it, he may have never taken on his most famous mantle.
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