Pierce Brosnan: 007 Actor Listened To Rick Perry, Willie Nelson And Others To Learn Texas Accent For ‘The Son’

Pierce Brosnan recently sat down with Matt Lauer of The Today Show to speak about his role in the upcoming AMC series, The Son. Brosnan, who has appeared in many movies, is perhaps best known for his portrayal of James Bond in a total of four different 007 films.

However, The Son marks his first major role in a television series since Remington Steele ended three decades ago. Remington Steele, an NBC series, ran for five seasons between 1982-87.

As described in the interview, The Son is based on a New York Times bestseller by Philipp Meyer, which was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, according to AMC.

As Robert Rorke of The New York Post describes, the story of The Son will actually be told in two different timelines. The first timeline will show a young version of the character of Eli McCullough, who is kidnapped by Comanche Native Americans in his youth.

The second timeline of The Son is set in early 20th century Texas, and Brosnan plays the adult version of Eli McCullough, who Lauer describes in the interview as a “ruthless cattle rancher and aspiring oil tycoon.” The character of Eli McCullough is also the patriarch of a wealthy family.

During the interview, Lauer also asked Brosnan, who naturally speaks with a tinge of an Irish accent, how he was able to a acquire a Texas accent for his role on The Son. Brosnan implied that the fact that the character of Eli McCullough is Irish himself was a big help.

“It was pretty tricky,” Brosnan told Lauer. “I gave myself the grace of being [Irish], I play this Colonel, Colonel Eli McCullough, so there’s Celtic roots to the man’s bones, so in 1915 they would have been second-generation Scots-Irish.”

Brosnan said that he would also listen to former Texas Governor Rick Perry and country stars such as Willie Nelson and the late Waylon Jennings in order to learn the Texas dialect as well. He also said that Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) was someone who he listened to and drew inspiration from.

“Somehow [Ted Poe] just caught my imagination,” Brosnan told Lauer. “I love the timber of his voice.”

While The Son may seem like an unfamiliar territory for Brosnan, it is described in the interview how he did a post-Civil War western with Liam Neeson called Seraphim Falls back in 2006. Brosnan also discusses how he grew up watching westerns and remains a fan of the genre. However, Brosnan describes how he considers The Son to be more of a “family saga,” as opposed to a western in the traditional sense.

In addition to his new role in The Son, Brosnan has also been rumored to be in talks to play Cable in Deadpool. However, as the Inquisitr recently reported, the 63-year-old actor recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and said that he has not yet been approached about the matter and may now appear unlikely to be a fit.

According to IMDb, other upcoming projects that Brosnan has been involved in include The King’s Daughter, Final Score, The Only Living Boy In New York,The Foreigner, and Across The River and Into The Trees.

Central Texas-shot “The Son,” starring Pierce Brosnan, debuts this weekend https://t.co/vSb5EJsny6 pic.twitter.com/fnTTu3jTlN

— Austin 360 (@austin360) April 5, 2017

The Son will make its debut on AMC tonight, Saturday April 8th, at 9:00 p.m. EST, and the premiere will be two-hours long. The first season will reportedly consist of a total of 10 episodes. As Deadline reported back in January, Brosnan, who discussed The Son at the Television Critics Association (TCA) this winter, said that he had signed on for a total of three seasons.

Will you be tuning in to see Pierce Brosnan star as Eli McCullough in The Son? Let us know!

[Featured Image by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for AMC]