James Bond Star Shares His Painful Childhood And How It Made Him So Grateful

Jan 24, 2022 by apost team

Pierce Brosnan's legacy as an actor needs no introduction. Best known for his portrayal of secret agent 007 James Bond in the film franchise, Brosnan played the famous character in four movies from 1995-2002. 

On top of the star-making role, the Irish actor has created a wide-ranging filmography that leaves almost no genre untouched. From comedy like "Mrs. Doubtfire," to action such as his Bond films and other hits like "The Thomas Crown Affair" and "Dante's Peak," Brosnan has proven himself to be a skilled performer.

He even wowed us with his musical talents in the "Mamma Mia!" franchise. Nominated for two Golden Globes in his career, Brosnan is still acting regularly and is set to appear in an upcoming DC Comics movie as the superhero Doctor Fate in the movie "Black Adam," which is set to be released in July 2022. 

Brosnan is a legendary actor in his own right and continues to be a household name even today — but not many know that his childhood was extremely challenging. Brosnan was an only child whose father abandoned him during infancy, and his mother had to work in England to provide for him while he was raised by his maternal grandparents in Ireland. 

In his own words, Brosnan said "There were no siblings. I was an only child from a fractured family. My father took off for the hills very early." However, this experience has allowed him to cherish and love his current family even more. The father of five and doting husband has nothing but gratitude for his life, and though he struggled to find his path to fame, he continues to be thankful for the family bonds he has today. 

Brosnan is an Irish actor most known for his role as secret agent James Bond in the four of the James Bond films, including “GoldenEye,” “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “The World Is Not Enough” and “Die Another Day.” He has also portrayed the character in a variety of video games in the same universe.

Born on May 16, 1953, in Drogheda, Ireland, Brosnan had no idea of the kind of life he'd go on to lead. Living a fairly solitary childhood, the young boy saw his first James Bond film at the cinema aged 11, but he had no idea of the influence the character would have on his own life. 

Irish Times reported that Brosnan was born to May, a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. Brosnan's childhood began in Navan, a town in Ireland, where he spent the first 10 years of his life. Brosnan still considers Navan his hometown and retains his Irish citizenship even today.

The Guardian reported that Brosnan's father abandoned him when he was an infant, and because his mother worked as a nurse in London, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. He said in the interview, "Because I was so solitary and we lived on the outskirts of town, across the River Boyne, I was an outsider. An only child."

After his grandparents passed away, he was forced to move into lodgings.

The actor recalled, "I was sent to live with a woman named Eileen, who had a place in a poor part of town. She had her own children and I moved upstairs with the lodgers, all grown men with jobs... At the end of the room, there was my little bed, with a curtain around it, so the light wouldn't shine in when the older guys came home."

apost.com

For a young boy, this is not an easy life. While at the lodgings, Brosnan was also taught at a strict school run by the Christian Brothers according to The Guardian. Unfortunately, his experience in this environment was quite detrimental. 

He recalled that "[They] were dreadful, dreadful human beings," and added, "Just the whole hypocrisy. And the cruelness of their ways toward children. They were very sexually repressed. It was ugly. I learnt nothing from the Christian Brothers - except shame." 

However, his luck would soon turn around when he joined his mother and her new husband in East Lothian in 1964, after which the family would soon relocate to London. Though London would prove to be a place of great opportunity for Brosnan in the future, as a child, he was bullied. The Guardian reported that at school, he was nicknamed Irish. "Being an Irish immigrant in London in ’64, they don’t let you forget that."

In a 1997 interview with Cigar Aficionado, Brosnan also said,

"When you go to a very large city, a metropolis like London, as an Irish boy of 10, life suddenly moves pretty fast. From a little school of, say, seven classrooms in Ireland, to this very large comprehensive school, with over 2,000 children. And you're Irish. And they make you feel it; the British have a wonderful way of doing that, and I had a certain deep sense of being an outsider." 

However, as time went on, Brosnan settled into his life and a group of friends and began to see exactly what he wanted to do with his life:

"I wanted to be a commercial artist, I wanted to be an artist. I still am, I still paint," the star said. 

His love for art took him away from school at the age of 16 and into a budding career as a commercial artist. His love for art continued to permeate his life even as he climbed his way into the hearts of people around the world as an up-and-coming actor in the 90s. He initially trained to be a painter at Saint Martin's School of Art in London, before switching his focus to acting, which he studied at the Drama Centre London. He described how he felt when becoming an actor: 

"When I found acting, or when acting found me, it was a liberation. It was a stepping stone into another life, away from a life that I had, and acting was something I was good at, something which was appreciated. That was a great satisfaction in my life."

Upon graduation, Brosnan got his start in the theater before appearing in movies in the 1980s. He earned his first Golden Globe nomination in 1982 and at the same time moved Stateside where his career flourished. By 1995 he had landed the role that would make him a star — as James Bond in the 17th film of the franchise, "GoldenEye."

Speaking about bagging the coveted role of James Bond, Brosnan said, "I don’t know if there was some kind of divine intervention. I don’t know what it was. I had the desire and the passion and I was driven. And I had a bit of talent in my back pocket. Remington [Steele] really was a calling card for me to play Bond, but I couldn’t shake the shackles of Remington."

He added, "But somehow it was my destiny that the chance would come back around with Goldeneye. It has to be the luck of the Irish behind me."

Brosnan's version of Bond was definitely a standout when considering the character's history, and it's interesting to know he was directly inspired by the original Bond himself — Sean Connery. He revealed as much when posting to his Instagram in honor of Connery's 90th birthday in 2020, writing:

"I was eleven years old in 1964, just off the plane from Ireland when I saw Goldfinger at the ABC Cinema on Putney High Street. You were my Bond of inspiration."

After four Bond movies, Brosnan handed over the reins to the current Bond Daniel Craig in 2002, and since then he's shown the world just how varied he is as an actor, taking on other action, comedy, and even musical roles. 

Since then he's also focused more on his family including his wife of nearly 20 years, Keely Shaye Smith. Brosnan and Smith first met in Cabo San Lucas in 1994, while Smith was there on a job assignment with actor Ted Danson, and Brosnan was holidaying with friends.

After catching each other's attention at a beach party, they connected and had their first date a few days later, where they "sat down under the stars" as Pierce held Keely's hand while Kenny Loggins was singing. They stayed up and talked until three in the morning, and have been together ever since. The rest, as they say, is history.

The happy couple is also parents to two boys — Dylan Brosnan, who was born in 1997, and Paris Brosnan, who was born in 2001. Brosnan has three children from his previous marriage to Cassandra Harris: Chris, Sean, and Charlotte Brosnan, who tragically passed away from ovarian cancer just like her mother.

The 68-year-old has been open about Smith’s supportive role in his life, especially after the actor’s daughter, Charlotte, passed away in 2013 at the age of 42 after a battle with ovarian cancer. The Daily Mail reported that following Charlotte’s passing, Brosnan fell into depression. Luckily Smith, whom Brosnan described as “strength I wouldn’t be able to live without,” was there to help him through his darkest days.

Brosnan’s first wife was Australian actress Cassandra Harris who also starred in Bond films. According to the Daily Mail, the couple had two children and was married for over a decade until Harris tragically died of ovarian cancer in 1991, the same disease that would take her daughter’s life.

“Cassie was very positive about life. I mean, she had the most amazing energy and outlook on life. It was and is a terrible loss and I see it reflected from time to time in my children,” Brosnan told Express in 2013.

“It was a great friendship, a great love, a great adventure. You don’t get over the mourning in a year, two years, three, four. You just miss the person and sometimes get angry with her because she’s not there,” he added.

Brosnan's current marriage to Smith has been one of the rare relationships in Hollywood that has lasted for decades, and there seem to be no signs of a decrease in love and respect for each other. Brosnan's Instagram page shows that family is the important thing to the actor — the page is studded with photographs of people who mean the most to Brosnan. Moreover, the star very happily continues his artistic pursuits! In 2021, he even had an exhibition of his paintings and donated all of his earnings. 

Brosnan lives in Malibu in a 13,000-square-foot mansion, known as Orchid House, which sits pretty on the beach. Even though he enjoys his time with his wife there, Brosnan said that he’s planning to put down permanent roots in Hawaii with Smith in an interview with the Gentleman's Journal in 2021. 

As Brosnan continues to work in films, he has also given a significant amount of time to his art and he sometimes even creates a studio space that he can escape to when filming on location. When the coronavirus pandemic led to a lockdown, Brosnan and Smith made the best of the situation. "Ironically. Because we were in lockdown on the island. I painted, I gardened, I swam. And we did that every day. And Keely cooked meals and we took walks," Brosnan explained. 

Brosnan also delved into his relationship with his family in the interview. The father of five was asked whether his lonely childhood had any impact on the kind of family man he is today, to which he responded, "I suspect so."

He continued, "I cherish family very much. I cherish being a father. I did not grow up with a father figure or with a solid family. There was deep fracture, a certain isolation and an aloneness which wielded the wonderful power of my imagination. I had to get by on my own sensing and intuition." 

Through everything, he added that his family has been his priority,

"So I value and love the family. Keely is the most amazing mother and woman — I’ve watched her grow up over 27 years, watched our life together just blossom and grow. And there are still many more dreams to be had." 

Did you know about Pierce Brosnan's childhood? What do you think of his current role as a dedicated family man? Tell us your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to your friends as well.