40 Fun Facts About Pierce Brosnan

Which circus skill did Pierce Brosnan pick up at a London theatre workshop before he trained as an actor?

Fire eating caught his eye when he watched a performer teaching it at the Ovalhouse theatre, and he simply joined in. Three years at the Drama Centre London followed.

In which Robin Williams film does Pierce Brosnan play Stu, the smooth new boyfriend of the hero's ex-wife?

Mrs. Doubtfire has Williams's disguised nanny spike Stu's dinner with cayenne pepper, then save him with the Heimlich manoeuvre when he starts to choke.

Which horror author sued to have his name taken off Pierce Brosnan's virtual-reality thriller The Lawnmower Man?

Stephen King won because the film kept little of his short story beyond the title. It had been rewritten from an unrelated script called CyberGod.

In which film did Pierce Brosnan first play James Bond, driving a tank through the streets of St Petersburg?

GoldenEye ended a six-year gap in the series caused by legal disputes, and its tank chase alone took around six weeks to film.

Which actor became James Bond in 1987 after a television contract forced Pierce Brosnan to give up the role?

Timothy Dalton stepped in after news of Brosnan's casting revived his cancelled detective show, whose makers then held him to his contract.

Which hit film musical won Pierce Brosnan a Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actor, thanks to his singing?

Mamma Mia! critics compared his singing to a water buffalo and a wounded raccoon. He still came back for the sequel ten years later.

Pierce Brosnan narrated an hour-long 2008 special, The Great Discovery, for which long-running children's series?

Thomas & Friends hired him to narrate the whole series on both sides of the Atlantic, but that one special turned out to be his only work for it.

Which Sean Connery adventure was the first James Bond film Pierce Brosnan ever saw, at the age of 11?

Goldfinger was a treat from his new stepfather, soon after Brosnan left Ireland to rejoin his mother in Britain.

Which car maker broke with tradition by supplying James Bond's cars for Pierce Brosnan's first three 007 films?

BMW signed a three-film deal that put Bond in a Z3 roadster, then a remote-controlled 750iL saloon and finally a Z8.

Which actress played Chinese agent Wai Lin alongside Pierce Brosnan's Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies?

Michelle Yeoh so impressed Brosnan with her combat skills that he called her a female James Bond. Her Oscar came decades later, for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Which 1980s NBC detective series made Pierce Brosnan a star as a former con man posing as a private eye?

Remington Steele began as a name invented by detective Laura Holt, because clients would not hire a woman. Brosnan's nameless thief simply stepped into the role.

Which actress became the first woman to play M, Bond's boss, in Pierce Brosnan's debut as 007?

Judi Dench outlasted Brosnan in the series, staying on as M to brief Daniel Craig's Bond from Casino Royale to Skyfall.

Which actress played NSA agent Jinx opposite Pierce Brosnan's Bond in Die Another Day?

Halle Berry was then lined up for a spin-off film about Jinx, which the studio announced and later cancelled over its $80 million budget.

Which pop star sang the theme to Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day and cameoed as a fencing instructor?

Madonna's title song split the juries: it was nominated for a Golden Globe and also for a Golden Raspberry as the year's worst original song.

In which disaster film does Pierce Brosnan play a volcanologist who warns a small Washington town of an eruption?

Dante's Peak used Wallace, Idaho, as its doomed town, and one scene with a trapped scientist was shot inside the crater of Mount St. Helens.

In which heist remake does Pierce Brosnan play a bored billionaire who steals a Monet from a New York museum?

The Thomas Crown Affair swapped the 1968 original's armed bank robberies for an art theft, because its director thought audiences would not forgive a hero who robbed banks for fun.

What kind of mythical creature is Chiron, the teacher Pierce Brosnan plays in the first Percy Jackson film?

Centaur or not, Chiron poses as a high school teacher called Mr Brunner and trains young heroes at Camp Half-Blood.

Which comedian played Pierce Brosnan's son, an Icelandic singer, in a Netflix comedy about the Eurovision Song Contest?

Will Ferrell also co-wrote the film, having been introduced to the contest in 1998 by his Swedish wife.

Which martial arts star hunts Pierce Brosnan's Belfast politician for answers in the 2017 thriller The Foreigner?

Jackie Chan plays a London restaurant owner and former soldier who wants the names of the bombers who killed his daughter.

Pierce Brosnan voiced a talking smart house called Ultrahouse in a Halloween episode of which animated series?

The Simpsons writers first wanted Sean Connery as the voice of the house, which falls for Marge and plots to get rid of Homer.

Which English actor played Alec Trevelyan, the treacherous agent 006, in Pierce Brosnan's first James Bond film?

Sean Bean's villain was rewritten as Bond's equal once he was cast. The two actors met again in 2010, with Bean as Zeus in a Percy Jackson film.

Which Monty Python star took over as gadget master Q during Pierce Brosnan's run as James Bond?

John Cleese was first introduced as Q's assistant, jokingly called R, a letter Brosnan found hard to say in a convincing English accent.

Which rock legend sang the theme to Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film, a song written by Bono and the Edge?

Tina Turner's song saw off a rival theme written by Swedish group Ace of Base, whose record label pulled them out for fear the film would flop.

In which James Bond film does Pierce Brosnan chase an assassin by speedboat along the Thames to the Millennium Dome?

The World Is Not Enough took several weeks on the river to film the chase, and became the highest-grossing Bond film up to that time.

Which director cast Pierce Brosnan as Professor Donald Kessler in the alien invasion comedy Mars Attacks!?

Tim Burton first wanted Hugh Grant for the professor, who ends the film as a disembodied head aboard the Martian mothership.

Which Justice Society hero did Pierce Brosnan play opposite Dwayne Johnson in the DC film Black Adam?

Doctor Fate draws his sorcery from the Helmet of Fate, and Brosnan wore a motion capture suit to play him.

Which actor played Pierce Brosnan's rebellious son, Tyler, in the 2010 New York drama Remember Me?

Robert Pattinson's Tyler ends the film waiting in his father's office, which is revealed to be on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower.

Which fellow Irish star pursues Pierce Brosnan across the wilderness in the 2007 revenge western Seraphim Falls?

Liam Neeson was cast first, opposite Richard Gere, and Brosnan only took the part of the hunted man when Gere dropped out.

Which actress plays Elizabeth, one of the retired amateur sleuths, opposite Pierce Brosnan in The Thursday Murder Club?

Helen Mirren's character is a retired MI6 officer, while Brosnan swaps spying for the part of Ron, a retired union leader.

Which comedy star plays an American engineer caught in a violent uprising alongside Pierce Brosnan in No Escape?

Owen Wilson's family is rescued by Brosnan's Hammond, a British traveller who turns out to be a covert operative and gives his life so they can escape.

Which black comedy earned Pierce Brosnan a Golden Globe nomination as a jaded hitman who befriends a salesman?

The Matador lost him the Globe to Joaquin Phoenix, but Roger Ebert called it the best work of Brosnan's career.

Which British star hunts Pierce Brosnan's KGB agent in the Cold War thriller The Fourth Protocol?

Michael Caine helped get the film made: he read the novel in draft, suggested to its author that they produce it together, and invested his own fee.

Pierce Brosnan's first wife, Cassandra Harris, played Countess Lisl in which Roger Moore James Bond film?

For Your Eyes Only is where Brosnan first met Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, over lunch during the shoot, years before he was offered the part himself.

Pierce Brosnan made his film debut playing an IRA man in which British gangster classic starring Bob Hoskins?

The Long Good Friday gave Brosnan only a small part, while its lead role, written with Hoskins in mind, made Hoskins a star.

Which director made Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film and reunited with him 22 years later for The Foreigner?

Martin Campbell turned down further Bond films until there was a new 007, then launched Daniel Craig's run with Casino Royale.

Which spy novelist wrote the book behind Pierce Brosnan's thriller The Tailor of Panama, and co-wrote its script?

John le Carré's story nods to Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, and the film gave a young Daniel Radcliffe his film debut.

Which Scottish actor plays the title role opposite Pierce Brosnan's former prime minister in The Ghost Writer?

Ewan McGregor replaced Nicolas Cage after production was postponed, while Brosnan's politician was written with echoes of Tony Blair.

Which playwright personally chose a young Pierce Brosnan for the British premiere of The Red Devil Battery Sign?

Tennessee Williams was so pleased with the performance that he sent Brosnan a telegram of thanks, which the actor has kept ever since.

Before he ever acted, Pierce Brosnan left school at 16 to study what at Saint Martin's School of Art?

Illustration never left him: Brosnan went back to painting in the late 1980s and now sells prints of his work to raise money for charity.

In which biographical film does Pierce Brosnan play an Englishman who passes himself off as a Native American trapper?

Grey Owl was directed by Richard Attenborough, who as a boy had gone with his brother David to hear the real man lecture in 1936.