<p id=”par-1_38″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/james-bond/”>James Bond</a> star Pierce Brosnan was seen as the perfect fit for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/pierce-brosnan-slammed-love-scenes-james-bond-movies-pathetic.html/”>the role of 007</a> back in his day. But Brosnan felt he only managed to take the Bond mantle after his looks changed over the years.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-pierce-brosnan-felt-he-had-to-grow-into-james-bond”>Pierce Brosnan felt he had to grow into James Bond</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/James-Bond-Pierce-Brosnan.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Pierce Brosnan posing as James Bond while in a tank.” class=”wp-image-3718045″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Pierce Brosnan | Keith Hamshere/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-2_92″>It seems the stars aligned for Brosnan perfectly when he was cast as Bond back in the 90s. He was initially considered for the role a decade prior. In 1986, Bond producer Albert Broccoli screen-tested Brosnan for the film. Brosnan’s audition was impressive enough that he most likely <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ralph-fiennes-thought-terrible-james-bond-cast-instead-pierce-brosnan.html/”>would’ve been cast as the character</a> for the 1987 film <em>The Living Daylights</em>. But because of his contractual obligations to the show <em>Remington Steel</em>e, Brosnan’s schedule wouldn’t permit him to do the movie. Which he admitted bothered him in a resurfaced interview with <a href=”http://pbfiles.net/interviews/Inter055-Redbook_1997.html?i=3″>Redbook</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-3_59″>“The only thing I could think was that it was just business,” Brosnan said. “And it wasn’t until six months later that I began to think, I could have been there, I could have done that. But it also gave me a hunger and a desire to get there. I just thought, F*** you, I’m going to get there.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_68″>Brosnan kept true to his word. After Dalton’s 1989 feature <em>License to Kill</em>, Bond producers felt it was time for the MI6 agent to go in a new direction. When they circled back to Brosnan eight years later, this time he was able to secure the role. And in hindsight, he felt it might’ve been a good thing he didn’t end up with Bond in his younger years.</p>
<p id=”par-5_130″>“Again I have been very fortunate that I did not get Bond when I was supposed to get it,” Brosnan once told <a href=”http://www.phase9.tv/moviefeatures/dieanotherdayq&a-piercebrosnan1.shtml”>Phase 9</a>. “I was too young. My features were too handsome, too good looking – call it what you will. I always used to think that if I was about a foot shorter I would be more talented and if I had a broken nose I would be really talented. Some guy will read this and say ‘I’ll give you a broken nose if you want’. I’m sure if someone were to dig out that screen test that I did in 1986 they would just howl. So it did come at the right time when there was a little bit of gravitas to the soul and the heart.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-pierce-brosnan-felt-timothy-dalton-would-ve-still-been-james-bond-if-it-wasn-t-for-this-one-factor”>Pierce Brosnan felt Timothy Dalton would’ve still been James Bond if it wasn’t for this one factor</h2>
<p id=”par-6_59″>Brosnan was fortunate that Dalton stepped away from the James Bond series when he did. It’d been six years between Dalton’s last Bond film <em>License to Kill </em>and <em>Die Another Day</em>. Despite the long gap, the Broccolis planned on bringing Dalton back for Bond. And Dalton almost signed on, although he initially had reservations about returning in the beginning.</p>
<p id=”par-7_33″>“[Broccoli] asked if I would come back, and I said, ‘Well, I’ve actually changed my mind a little bit. I think that I’d love to do one,’” Dalton once said according to <a href=”https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1537833/timothy-dalton-news-james-bond-licence-to-kill-spt”>Express</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-8_15″>But Dalton wasn’t ready for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/james-bond-why-timothy-dalton-left-the-role-of-007-after-two-films.html/”>the long commitment</a> that was required to play the character.</p>
<p id=”par-9_60″>“And he said, quite rightly, ‘Look, Tim. You can’t do one. There’s no way, after a five-year gap between movies that you can come back and just do one. You’d have to plan on four or five,’” Dalton remembered. “And I thought, ‘Oh, no, that would be the rest of my life. Too much. Too long.’ So I respectfully declined.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_37″>But Brosnan felt if Dalton had the support of director Martin Campbell, he might still be attached to the role. Campbell filmed the first Bond feature <em>Goldeneye</em>, and Brosnan felt the filmmaker was essential in his casting.</p>
<p id=”par-11_70″>“And I had the great Martin Campbell who was ferocious in his tenacity and preparation and his vision of what Bond should be. I was very lucky because I think that possibly if Timothy Dalton had had Martin Campbell I wouldn’t be here. Because Tim had that determination and he is a very fine actor. It’s just that he wasn’t supported in the same way that I was,” Brosnan said.</p>