In 2004, Pierce Brosnan received a shocking phone call.
The James Bond actor, who was gearing up to do a fifth movie in the 007 franchise, was told by producers the role was being recast.
Initially, the star felt he had been “kicked to the curb.” But now, he has no hard feelings against the decision.
“There’s no regret,” the 67-year-old told The Guardian on Wednesday. “I do not let regret come into my world… It just leads to more misery and more regrets.”
Brosnan made his debut as the British Secret Service agent in 1995’s “GoldenEye.” He went on to star in 1997’s “Tomorrow Never Dies,” 1999’s “The World is Not Enough” and 2002’s “Die Another Day.”
Daniel Craig was the one to replace Brosnan's Bond. According to the outlet, the producers felt the franchise needed a reboot to stay relevant in “a post-9/11, post-Bourne world.”
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Irish actor Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, with his 'GoldenEye' co-stars Famke Janssen (left) and Izabella Scorupco, circa 1995. (Getty)
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Today, Brosnan thinks fondly of his time suiting up as Hollywood’s most famous agent.
“Bond is the gift that keeps giving and has allowed me to have a wonderful career,” he explained. “Once you’re branded as a Bond, it’s with you forever, so you better make peace with it and you’d better understand that when you walk through those doors and pick up the mantle of playing James Bond.”
But Brosnan kept busy before the coronavirus pandemic put Hollywood on pause. He has four films in production and a fifth awaiting release.
“I have no desire to retire,” said Brosnan. “I am a man of 67 years now and the parts that will come to me will be the parts of the elder, the parts of the comedic turn. At this point in life, I don’t know what else to do but act and paint.”
“I would like to think that the vaccine will come soon for the disease of corona,” he continued. “And I would like to think, also, a vaccine will come for the disease of racism and that we can really come together as communities to respect each other’s religions and beliefs and not to be so judgmental.
Dylan Brosnan, from left, Pierce Brosnan, and Paris Brosnan attend the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Hollywood Reporter celebration of the 2020 award season and Golden Globe Ambassador reveal at Catch LA on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP)
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“With change comes struggle. But I have hope in our young people, I have hope in my sons’ generation that they will see the awful, shameful neglect that we’ve paid to each other’s religions, race, the nature of our lives, the environment that we live in. I have the strongest belief that the youth of today will make a big change, will have the courage to get out and vote for the rights of people - not racism and not ignorance and malignant narcissism.
“My eldest son said: ‘Dad is just a dreamer.’ But my dreaming has gotten me this far in life. So I shall continue dreaming and continue being the man I am and doing the best I can, with the tiny bit of gold talent that I’ve got.”
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