Pierce Brosnan, who played James Bond in four films between 1995 and 2002, has said he has qualified sympathy for Helen Mirren’s feelings about what she called the “profound sexism” of the spy series.
Speaking last week, Mirren said she had “never liked James Bond” because the concept is “drenched and born out of profound sexism.”
Asked about her remarks, Brosnan told People: “She let them have it.”
“Yes, there’s a certain agreement there,” he added. “But there’s a certain world and room to move within the proscenium arch of what Ian Fleming put down. So there’s always going to be conflict.”
Brosnan and Mirren co-star in Ronan Bennett’s new series, MobLand, but said they “didn’t talk about” the Bond franchise during production.
In her interview with the Evening Standard, Mirren called Brosnan “one of the nicest people you’ll ever have the pleasure to work with,” and described Daniel Craig, who succeeded him as 007, as a “very lovely gracious person”.
Brosnan’s remarks suggest a rethink from his previous position. Speaking in 2015, Brosnan responded to Craig calling his own take on the character as “not as sexist and misogynist” as previous incarnations.
“I never thought of him like that,” said Brosnan. “I saw him as a solitary, enigmatic character,” adding that he did concur with Craig’s feeling that 007 was “very fucking lonely”.
“I saw him as a fellow who carries a certain amount of pain and angst. Deep down as someone who’s quite troubled, and solitary – [though] Ian Fleming really doesn’t give you a lot to hang your hat on.”
Brosnan’s first Bond film, 1995’s GoldenEye, attempted to address the issue directly, with Judi Dench’s M calling him a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur”. The film’s star, however, felt it was merely a “witty line”.
“It was for the reintroduction of Bond, having been dormant for six years,” he said, “a good line to be delivered by Dame Judi: funny and telling. But you try to play within the lines and within the stillness of the character – that’s where hopefully you see something of him. The rest is phonetic and kinetic and dynamic and ... fun.”
In February, it was announced that Amazon MGM Studios would form a new joint venture to control the James Bond intellectual property rights and gain creative control. Previous overseers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli will continue as co-owners.
Speaking to Yahoo promoting MobLand, Brosnan said he thought Aaron Taylor-Johnson, his co-star from 2009 film The Greatest, would be “very good” in the role.
