Pierce Brosnan unloads a `whole bloody shitload of anger` about losing Bond

He was shaken and stirred. That's how Pierce Brosnan recalls reacting to the phone call telling him that he was being dumped as James Bond after having made four wildly successful films for the 007 empire - reports The Star.

"God, it was a shock," he begins, "One was very perplexed by such a decision. Then came anger. Yes, a whole bloody shitload of anger."

He slams his hand on the table, startling everyone around him on the glitterati filled terrace of the Intercontinental Hotel during the height of the Toronto International Film Festival.

"You ask yourself how they could treat you like that after all you've done for them." His blue eyes are frostier than the glass of ice water he sips to calms himself down.

But then, as suddenly as it erupted, the volcanic rage vanishes.

"I remember sitting there and trying to fathom out the reasons why. You realize that when you sign up for a career choice like that, you only have a certain period of time, but still, you're never really ready for the ride to come to an end."

He sighs. "You have to try to let it go fast. With the next morning, came a certain liberation."

One of those signs of liberation is currently on display in The Matador, opening this Friday.

Although Brosnan actually shot the film before being given his walking papers as everyone's favourite secret agent, it helps serve as a perfect answer to the question: Is there life after Bond?

"Coming at this point in my life when there's a chapter ending, a door closing, it's a wonderful way to shake things up."

If anything, the 52-year-old Irish-born actor is understating the case.

In the black comedy written and directed by Richard Shepard, he plays the ironically named Julian Noble, a down-and-out hit man whose career is in freefall due to his sudden inability to pull the trigger on his victims.

Shivering on rooftops and cowering in stairwells, with sweat pouring off him like rainwater, Brosnan shows us a hired gun about as far removed from the dapper Bond as you could possibly imagine.

And just in case there was any doubt left, "I knock the audience for six in a scene that no one expects from me."

"I walk across the lobby of the Camino Royal wearing nothing but a Speedo and boots, with my gut hanging out. It's the high point of my career."

He now looks on it as "an iconic moment," but confesses that he was terrified of doing it.

"I had a moment's pause just before dropping my robe and walking into the shot. I thought, `Here you go, Pierce, you're destroying what everyone thinks of you.'"

But in the end, he realized that was the point of the whole exercise.

"I've played a certain kind of performance in the past and I painted myself into a corner with it. To turn all of that on its ear was a real joy. Sure, it worried my representatives and my family, but it was fun.

"And God, I wanted to have some fun again."

He seems to radiate total sang-froid in the sequence, striding through the astonished crowd with a cigar and a can of beer, "but inside my head," he admits, "I was shouting `Hey, everybody, it's me, Brosnan, the guy who was Bond."

Like someone who can't refrain from playing with an aching tooth, Brosnan returns to the topic of the role that made him famous.

"I will always be grateful to the Bond franchise and the opportunities it gave me," is how he starts, but before long the real feelings surface again.

"You are very much caught in a time warp when you're doing Bond films. It's like a bloody period piece, no matter how up-to-date they try to be.

"Its strengths are also its weaknesses. It's formulaic. You save the world, you get the woman; nothing changes."

Since leaving the role, Brosnan has frequently been quoted about how it was the supposedly humorous banter that wore him down the most and he confirms that was true.

"The one-liners become very tired, very quickly. Some of them are witty, but most of them aren't. I always felt I was treading water in the wake of Roger Moore, who knew how to do them with such aplomb and self-deprecation."

His face clouds over as he recalls the struggles he went through with each film. "I was always striving for deeper character investigation and trying to establish real relationships with the other characters, but in the end, it all came down to girls and guns and gadgets."

But Brosnan looks at his future with renewed energy.

"I'm lucky I've always enjoyed acting and have the passion for it still. Yes, it's psychological warfare being an actor and bringing yourself to the table time and time again. Having a career in this business is a delicate balance: you can't hold it too tightly, but you have to take it seriously."

Julian Noble strikes him as a symbol of his chosen profession.

"You walk a razor's edge, playing an odious vulgarian who's morally bankrupt, while trying to make him charming at the same time.

"I've been craving such a role for many years now. It's a big release. I never knew what shape or form it would have, but it came with the title, The Matador."

Discuss this news here...