Pierce Brosnan Looked To His Faith During Personal Tragedies

Pierce Brosnan’s next movie is called A Long Way Down, based off a Nick Hornby book, and is about group of people who meet on New Years Eve and form a special bond that helps them through the trials and tribulations of their lives. Brosnan, 61, plays a television personality who is very depressed. It’s a far cry from his days as James Bond.

Unfortunately for Brosnan, the pain his character goes through is similar to some real life tragic events the former Bond star went through.

In 1991, he lost his first wife, Cassandra Harris, to ovarian cancer. Last year, he lost his adopted daughter to the same disease. When asked about how he dealt with the pain of losing people so close to him, he pointed to his faith, according to the NY Daily News.

“I would say faith, being Irish, being Catholic, it’s ingrained in my DNA,” he said.

In addition to his Catholic faith he also goes back to a talent not too many may know about: painting. He even added that he’s quite talented at it, too.

“I paint landscapes, figuratives. I painted all my life,” he said. “In fact, I started as a commercial artist.”

While the younger generations may know him from the movies, like his stint as James Bond and his starring role in Dante’s Peak, Brosnan got his big break in television in the title role for Remington Steele. It’s a format that he wouldn’t mind going back to again, according to the NY Daily News.

“TV is such a provocative, stimulating ground right now. Movies are somewhat diminished by blockbusters, which are great, but there’s not enough choice,” Brosnan said.

That doesn’t mean that Brosnan is ruling out ever appearing in a big Hollywood movie again. With the third of installment in Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables franchise coming out soon, the Brosnan said that he would love to be in the fourth one, according to The Guardian. He even talked to producer Avi Lerner about the possibility.

“I said to Avi Lerner, ‘If it works out and you have a good script, Avi, you know where to find me if you still want me.’ It’s as simple as that really,” Brosnan explained.

Brosnan then proceeded to praise Sylvester Stallone:

“Sylvester Stallone is the one that’s given us these wonderful platforms for actors who have and had careers to go play and have fun and to entertain. To bring a bunch of guys together who saved the world, fought the bad guys, and put them all on the same stage, that’s crazy good.”

He went on to compliment Lerner:

“It’s just about entertainment. Avi is somebody I’ve heard about and his movies always have big brash entertainment value to them. You can really change the world and that’s great, but The Expendables? Yeah, I’d love to do The Expendables. It’s just a kick in the pants.”

In addition to Brosnan, A Long Way Down also stars Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, and Toni Collette.

[Image via World Bank Photo Collection]