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Pierce Brosnan Has Had an Amazing Movie Career — Relive His Best Roles!

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Dec 2, 2017 2:00 pm·

By Ed Gross

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He may have gotten his start on television in Remington Steele, but Pierce Brosnan has spent most of the past 30 years starring in one Hollywood hit after another. He's been in everything from the James Bond film series to Mamma Mia! and beyond.

Born Pierce Brendan Brosnan on May 16, 1953, in Ireland, he was originally trained in commercial illustrations but then spent three years pursuing acting at London's Drama Centre. Scoring a variety of stage roles, he was cast in 1982 as the title character of Remington Steele. It was after that show was canceled that he was first hired to play James Bond in what became 1987's The Living Daylights, but at the very last minute — and hoping to cash in on 007's popularity — NBC exercised its option and renewed the series. As a result, he was let go from Bond (replaced by Timothy Dalton) and returned to the show, which was canceled soon after its return.

No doubt this was a major disappointment to Pierce, but we get the feeling that he somehow managed to bounce back from it (besides which, he got to play Bond for four films, beginning with 1995's GoldenEye). Scroll down to see more of Pierce's best movie roles!

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Nomads (1986)

While still starring on TV's Remington Steele, Pierce made his film debut in this feature directed by Die Hard's John McTiernan. In it, he plays a French anthropologist who, after his move to LA, discovers that the evil spirits he uncovered have followed him there.

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The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Michael Caine is British agent John Preston, who is trying to stop the Russians from detonating a nuclear weapon near an American base in the UK. Pierce is the Russian agent determined that things go off as planned.

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Taffin (1988)

Pierce plays the man who takes on corrupt developers intent on building a chemical plant near a small town, and the men determined to intimidate the townspeople from fighting against it.

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The Deceivers (1988)

Early in his career, no one could accuse Pierce of not attempting different kinds of roles. In this one, he plays the man who, in 1825 British India, sets about exposing a secret society of murderers.

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Mister Johnson (1990)

The focus is on black accountant Mister Johnson (Maynard Eziashi) in 1920s Africa, who discovers that as talented as he is, his race works against him. Pierce is his boss, Harry Rudbeck.

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The Lawnmower Man (1992)

Jeff Fahey is Jobe Smith, a mentally challenged landscaper who, thanks to the experiments of Pierce's Dr. Lawrence Angelo, gains far superior intelligence and uses it to extract revenge against those who have taken advantage of his mental status throughout his life. It was inspired by a Stephen King short story. Think of it as a high-tech version of Cliff Robertson's Charley, but with a lot more blood.

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Live Wire (1992)

US Senators are being targeted by terrorists who have come up with a liquid explosive that is activated once it's inadvertently ingested. Pierce is bomb disposal expert Danny O'Neill who has to wrestle with the fact that one of the targeted senators is having an affair with his wife.

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Entangled (1993)

Told largely in flashback, the film begins with a car accident in which a woman is likely dead and the driver severely hurt. What unfolds is a mystery that led to this moment. Pierce plays David, a writer living in France, whose novel — which has been submitted anonymously to a contest — appears to be central to events.

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Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Robin Williams is an actor who disguises himself as a female housekeeper so he can stay close to his kids who his ex-wife (Sally Field) has custody of. Pierce plays her boyfriend, caught in the middle of it all. Needless to say, Robin pulls this performance off.

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Love Affair (1994)

Pierce has a supporting role in this love story between Warren Beatty's ex-football star Mike Gambril and Annette Bening's Terry McKay.

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GoldenEye (1995)

Pierce ushers in a new age for James Bond as he plays 007 for the first time. In this one, Bond goes up against a former ally who is planning on destroying Britain's financial structure — making himself rich in the process — utilizing the GoldenEye satellite. For the record, this was the 16th Bond film, and Pierce the fifth actor to play the part following Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton.

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The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996)

This is a mockumentary about the unexplained disappearance of a fictitious up-and-coming movie producer. Pierce plays himself in it.

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The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

Another supporting role for Pierce in a film that's more about the romance between characters played by Jeff Bridges and Barbra Streisand.

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Mars Attacks! (1996)

Tim Burton's off the wall film version of a series of bubblegum cards as Earth is invaded by Martians. Pierce plays Professor Donald Kessler, who quite literally loses his head, but has no problem continuing to hypothesize ways of stopping the alien invaders.

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Dante's Peak (1997)

Linda Hamilton is Mayor Rachel Wando and Pierce volcanologist Harry Dalton, who come to realize that a massive volcano is about to erupt. Evacuation becomes a necessity, but the duo is slowed by the fact that her kids are missing. It's sort of a heartwarming disaster film (not really).

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Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Bond film number two for Pierce. This time, agent 007 teams up with Michelle Yeoh to take on media magnate Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), who plans on triggering a war between China and England for profit.

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Robinson Crusoe (1997)

An adaptation of the Daniel DeFoe novel, Pierce is the title character, who, trying to escape after killing a man in a duel, ultimately finds himself shipwrecked on a small island and struggles for survival.

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The Nephew (1998)

Describes Google, "A black American (Hill Harper) meets his relatives when he travels to Ireland to scatter his mother's ashes." Pierce co-stars in this one, but more importantly for him, his success as James Bond gave him the ability to start his own production company — Irish DreamTime — and this was his first effort as a producer.

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The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

There's nothing worse than an idle rich man, and in Thomas Crown's (Pierce) case, he decides to break up the monotony by stealing priceless artwork. Usually staying ahead of the authorities, that may change thanks to a sexy detective (Rene Russo).

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The Match (1999)

A supporting role for Pierce in this story about a pair of Scottish pub football teams who take each other on to settle what has become a grudge that has spanned a century.

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The World is Not Enough (1999)

And it's Bond flick number three for Pierce, as 007 takes on a woman intent on getting revenge on his boss, M (Judi Dench), setting up a bit of a nuclear disaster at the same time. Sophie Marceau costars as the villainess who gives Bond a run for his money.

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Grey Owl (1999)

While living as an Iroquois in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, an Englishman (Pierce) campaigns to protect the environment. For the actor, the highlight of the film was getting the chance to work with director Sir Richard Attenborough (Gandhi, A Chorus Line, Chaplin).

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The Tailor of Panama (2001)

Harry Pendel, a Cockney ex-con who has reinvented himself as a popular tailor to the rich and powerful of Panama, is famous for his storytelling as well as his suits. This time, however, his stories become lethal when he draws the attention of Pierce's British spy Osnard.

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Die Another Day (2002)

The fourth and final turn as James Bond for Pierce, as the spy has to… actually, the plot of this one is pretty indescribable. We will say that it starts off amazingly as Bond is captured by the North Koreans and tortured, but about midway through it gets really odd.

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Evelyn (2002)

A desperate father, who's out of work and dealing with alcoholism, desperately tries to get his kids back after his wife leaves the family and Irish law insists that children must be raised by two parents.

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Laws of Attraction (2004)

Opposing divorce lawyers Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) and Daniel Rafferty (Pierce), despite their vast differences in their approach to their job, eventually find themselves romantically attracted to each other.

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After the Sunset (2004)

Just one more heist for a jewel thief (Pierce) before he retires and relocates to an island with his girlfriend (Salma Hayek), but an FBI agent (Woody Harrelson) is determined to stop him and bring him to justice.

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The Matador (2005)

An odd friendship is struck between a hitman (Pierce as Julian Noble) and a salesman (Greg Kinnear as Danny Wright), which eventually leads Danny to asking Julian to help him out using his particular skill set.

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Seraphim Falls (2006)

As the Civil War comes to an end, there remains one more score to settle between Liam Neeson's Carver and Pierce's Gideon, a former Union officer.

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Shattered (2007)

After kidnapping the daughter of a couple, a man (Pierce, playing on the dark side instead of being the hero) forces the two (Gerard Butler and Maria Bello) to comply with a series of his challenging demands.

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Married Life (2007)

Set in the 1940s, a cheating husband decides that the best way to save his wife from the humiliation of divorce is to plot her murder. Gee, what a sport.

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Mamma Mia! (2008)

The hit Broadway show comes to the big screen. The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father is told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA. While the cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, and Pierce, many of the actors (particularly Pierce) were criticized for their singing… uh, abilities. That's all fine and good, but the film was a mega-success, and a sequel is coming next year.

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The Greatest (2009)

Susan Sarandon and Pierce are parents who are dealing with the loss of their son when they meet a woman (Carey Mulligan) who is carrying their unborn grandchild.

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Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

A teenager discovers he's the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. Pierce plays the centaur Chiron/Mr. Brunner, who trains heroes at Camp Half-Blood (sort of like Hogwarts but for gods).

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Remember Me (2010)

Since a family tragedy, a father and son (Pierce and Robert Pattinson) have seen their relationship become strained. Robert's character, Tyler, feels alone in the world until he meets Emilie de Ravin's Ally. They start to fall in love, though secrets from the past threaten their relationship.

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The Ghost Writer (2010)

Former British Prime Minister Adam Long (Pierce) has his memoirs being ghostwritten by a younger writer (Ewan McGregor) replacing his late predecessor. The more he researches and writes, the more he comes to believe that the previous writer may have uncovered something that cost him his life.

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Salvation Boulevard (2011)

Pierce is a fundamentalist preacher who accidentally shoots an atheist. When it becomes apparent that a man (Greg Kinnear, Pierce's The Matador co-star) witnessed the shooting, the preacher unleashes his followers to track him down.

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I Don't Know How She Does It (2011)

Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) struggles to have it all — marriage, kids, a successful career — but finds it harder and harder to hold on to it. This is made even worse when she finds herself tempted by a new business associate played by Pierce. Her husband is played by Greg Kinnear.

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Love is All You Need (2012)

Trine Dyrholm plays a woman who lost her hair to cancer and has discovered that her husband has been cheating on her. Traveling to Italy for her daughter's wedding, she unexpectedly connects with a widower (Pierce), angry at the loss of his wife.

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The World's End (2013)

Pierce has a supporting role in a film more or less dealing with the end of the world and how a group of friends cope (or fail to) with their imminent demise.

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The Love Punch (2013)

Discovering that a French businessman has stolen their retirement money, divorcees played by Pierce and Emma Thompson seek outside help.

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A Long Way Down (2014)

Four people meet on New Year's Eve and form a surrogate family to help one another with the difficulties of their lives. The cast includes Pierce, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Sam Neill, and Rosamund Pike.

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The November Man (2014)

Back into the spy biz for Pierce as he plays a retired CIA agent drawn back into service so that he can get a Russian agent (and his former lover) before a Russian leader gets his hands on her and the information she's obtained. Co-starring is Olga Kurylenko, who appeared with Daniel Craig in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.

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Some Kind of Beautiful (2014)

How's this for a complicated situation? A woman (Salma Hayek) starts to fall in love with a successful college professor (Pierce) who had a baby with her younger sister (Jessica Alba). Wouldn't be looking forward to the holidays with that group.

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Survivor (2015)

Playing a hired assassin, Pierce hunts down a foreign service officer (Milla Jovovich), who has been framed for a terrorist bombing, while she, in turn, is trying to prevent an attack in New York.

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No Escape (2015)

An American family desperately tries to survive a political uprising that threatens all of their lives. Owen Wilson and Lake Bell star, with Pierce playing Hammond, an operative for Her Majesty's Secret Service. We all know he's had some practice at that.

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Urge (2016)

A weekend getaway takes a dangerous turn when a mysterious nightclub owner introduces a group of friends to a dangerous new designer drug. That man is Pierce, who plays…uh, The Man.

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I.T. (2016)

Self-made millionaire Mike Regan (Pierce) finds the lives of himself and his family at risk when an I.T. consultant he's fired begins using his skills to tear down everything that Regan is built up.

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The King's Daughter (2017)

King Louis XIV (Pierce) dreams of immortality and may have found a means of achieving it by stealing the life force from a mermaid, but everything is at risk at the hands of his illegitimate daughter.

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The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)

When a young man (Callum Turner) discovers that his father (Pierce) is having an affair, he confronts the woman (Kate Beckinsale) and ends up getting involved with her romantically himself. It's a lot heavier than it sounds, the impact profound on everyone involved.

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The Foreigner (2017)

Jackie Chan plays a businessman who loses his daughter in an act of terrorism and is seeking revenge. What follows is a bit of cat-and-mouse as he goes up against a government official (Pierce), who may know the names of the people who were responsible for her death.