Pierce Brosnan has opened up about the possibility of returning to the James Bond franchise.
The 72-year-old starred in four 007films from 1995 to 2002; GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.
The actor has been applauded as one of the best Bonds ever, and has now opened up about the franchise being reincarnated again by director Denis Villeneuve.
In an interview for the GQ Men of the Year, Pierce admitted that the role of Bond is another man’s job, but hinted he wouldn’t be opposed to returning to the franchise.
‘Of course, people ask about Bond – “would you?” and whatever – but that’s another man’s job.
‘But the possibilities of working within that film, entertaining…’ he said mysteriously. ‘So it’s going to be exciting to see what happens.’
He added: ‘I think everything changes, everything falls apart, so you just sit back and enjoy it all.’
Pierce’s assertion that the role of Bond is cut out for another man falls in line with the new director’s criteria for filling the role.
Deadline confirmed that Villeneuve is looking for three things in the next 007: a man, a Brit, and an unknown, effectively ruining the bookies’ odds of the who’s who of major names in Hollywood.
Jack Lowden, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Callum Turner, and Theo James have all been front-runners for some time, with a few curveball actors also making their way into bookies’ predictions.
In an interview with Metro earlier this year about the Thursday Murder Club, he spoke about ageing on screen after decades in the business.
‘I don’t really think about the future that much. I mean, I think sometimes you do. I don’t think about it, I’m 72 now, and I don’t feel 72.
He added: ‘Really, I just love being an actor. I enjoy life, and these characters are people, the Quartet, men and women who had really incredible lives, and they are still in tune with who they are and moving forward with who they are and the zest for life.
‘They’re sassy, they’re sexy, they’re cool. They have a sensuality to them, and you have to play that.’
In the GQ interview, the star also confessed that despite playing the good guy on many occasions, he has a penchant for playing a villain, revealing he felt there was more freedom in the performance.
‘I feel more comfortable playing the bad guy,’ he said. ‘Just because you can really bend your spleen and move any which way you like.
‘Dodge and feint, and bob and weave, and mess with the audience.’
The actor has played several badies in film and cinema, including in The Foreigner, The Ghost Writer, Survivor, and more recently in MobLand, as the head of a crime family.
Fingers crossed, this means he’d be open to playing a Bond villain in future films!
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