Former 007 Pierce Brosnan stirred up some thoughts about who might be a good choice to play James Bond following the latest franchise shake-up.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the latest actor whose name has fueled speculation about Bond casting, and Brosnan told Yahoo Entertainment he doesn’t think the 34-year-old would be just good, “I think he would be very good.”
The GoldenEye actor previously worked with Taylor-Johnson in 2009 on a film that Brosnan executive produced.
“I cast him in one of the movies I made a long time ago called The Greatest, actually,” he said about the family drama that also starred Carey Mulligan and Susan Sarandon, “and he played ‘the Greatest.’”
“This young man came on the set,” Brosnan continued, “and took the space, filled the space with passion and energy. So yeah, I think if he wished it, wanted it and got it, he would be great.”
Regarding the overall partnership between Amazon MGM Studios, which took control of the franchise in February alongside original stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Brosnan said he “wish[es] them all well.”
The longtime actor’s latest turn, in Paramount+’s MobLand, a new TV series about two warring London crime families from executive producer Guy Ritchie, has him starring as the fierce Irish patriarch Conrad Harrigan. While taking on the rival Stevenson family, Harrigan enlists guidance from his wife, Maeve (Helen Mirren), and loyal fixer, Harry, played by Tom Hardy.
While he admitted that the two actors had “maybe about two hours of dialogue over five months” while filming the series and “didn’t really chat about this and that that much,” Brosnan was quick to praise Hardy.
“When you admire people and then they’re right there in front of you doing their thing,” he said, “it just elevates your work, makes you real.”
Hardy and Brosnan already had a solid relationship going into the series, as the Venom actor is a friend of Brosnan’s son Sean.
“I have a great fondness and respect for Tom,” Brosnan said. “Tom reminds me of Sean. They’re both kind of intense people, passionate people and [have] got kind hearts.”
Hardy returned the compliment.
“Pierce is such a consummate pro,” he told Yahoo Entertainment. “He’s such a lovely man, and he’s a brilliant actor. And he’s always been extremely gracious with his work, irrespective of any social element to it.”
Anson Boon, who plays Harrigan’s grandson Eddie, echoed that sentiment.
“Pierce’s work ethic is so admirable,” he said. “You have such high hopes as an audience member, or as a young actor, of the people that you look up to, and Pierce and Helen [Mirren] just delivered in every aspect.”
MobLand is streaming on Paramount+, with a new episode each Sunday through June 1.
