Pierce Brosnan: 'I've always seen myself as a character actor'

09-Apr-2010 • Actor News

A Pierce Brosnan soundbite has emerged on Hollywood Outbreak, in which he talks about his early attempts to become an actor in England and now, older and wiser, how he is approaching his craft.

""Nomads" was certainly a fond piece of film because it was my first time with John McTiernan. I thought, I'm off to be a movie-star now. I'm out of TV. Here's the beginning of my movie career. John McTiernan took off like a rocket and I carried on in TV. But... I like TV and I love being an actor. You just try and stay at the table for as long as you can and keep doing good work. I've always seen myself as a character actor, "Remington Steele" was me: I gave up on trying to be any character. I put myself in this world of Remington Steele - the pretender. The grand pretender.

You know at times I have found pieces that are very much character driven, they all should be character driven. But now at this point in my life I am finding more character and a sense of being an actor, being a performer; to try to be challenged and take risks. The voice of this character that I play I play, I've always been very aware of who I was, living in England as an Irishman and growing up there and being taught as an Irishman. I was aware of my voice, and how far I would go there [England] as a young actor, they were easily gotten and they always did get someone with a strong English accent. But thank God for America. I came here and found great home and possibilities were endless. The voice. I've got a piece right now where I am trying to figure it out and I've moved all over the map from Mississippi to Georgia to Australia to New Zealand, so I'll figure something out."