Exclusive interview with Pierce Brosnan – “My art has made me who I am today.”

Pierce Brosnan: One man, two passions

Anyone wishing to interview Pierce Brosnan is served a lesson in spontaneity. “Would tomorrow work for you?” the voice on the other end of the phone asks, before saying: “He’ll give you a call.” Given that the man you want to talk to played an iconic secret agent as if the role had been designed with him in mind, you immediately assume that he’s a “don’t call me, I’ll call you,” kind of person who doesn’t intend to return your call.

Pierce Brosnan keeps his word. The time difference between his home on the island of Kauai and GG’s editorial offices in Hamburg, Germany, is twelve hours. When the phone rings shortly after 7 am Hawaiian time, it’s obvious that he’s up early. “Hello, this is Pierce Brosnan,” his deep voice murmurs unannounced through the receiver.

We haven’t arranged this call to speak about James Bond – the charming daredevil role so suited to him that Brosnan is fondly remembered for decades later. We want to talk about his other passion: art.

Between sketchbook and screenplay

Born and raised in Ireland, Brosnan trained as a commercial artist after leaving school, fully prepared to spend the rest of his life making art. But then acting came along, and the TV show “Remington Steele” brought him international success. Painting remained his private passion until a few years ago, when it began moving center stage.

Mr. Brosnan, you began to paint long before you became one of the most well-known actors of your generation. How did this early foundation in art shape your view of the world?
I think I have always looked at the world with a creative and romantic eye. I love the romance of being an actor and I love the romance of being an artist. I can make a living from my work as an actor, which permeates and fuels my artistic intentions and actions.
I left school when I was 16. All I had, really, was a homemade artist’s folder of drawings and ­paintings, but I found a job as a trainee commercial artist. In retrospect, that was my passport to creative life – to fulfilling my wish, my dream, to become an artist. Then acting came along. So, my dedication as an artist goes hand in hand with ­being an actor. The one feeds off the other.

The pictures of a life

Looking back, can you remember the first thing that you ever drew?
I can still see the portrait I drew of a young boy that I was at school with. I still draw that way today, to an extent. The spaces, the characters... I suppose they are all self-portraits in a way. I can recognize the early stages in what I drew then.
But I really started painting when my late wife Cassandra was ill with cancer. She enjoyed the artwork I created, and I still have those pieces. “So Many Dreams,” the exhibition that I did in L.A. in 2023, was a retrospective, in a sense. It consisted of 50 paintings and 100 drawings that together made up a single art piece. I still have paintings that I did in 1995, in 1985 – they’re all in storage.
One of the great joys of my life was coming home from abroad one year to discover that my sons had gone into my studio and each taken seven paintings, which they put up in their rooms. It was a great honor to have my sons celebrate my work.

That must have made you proud...
Very much so. In fact, my son Paris is in the process of becoming a painter too. He was just touring Germany last fall. His work is really strong.

Do you recognize any similarities between his style and what you do?
Yes, there is a certain recognizable influence. There are emblems in his work that I have used in mine. We also paint together, which gives me great satisfaction and joy.

Art as inner reflection

How does painting help you through difficult times – or even in happy periods of your life?
Some of the best work comes from inward reflection, from places of suffering or pain. That’s when painting can be a great comfort. And also, of course, there’s just the joy of painting. Of going into your studio without knowing what you’re going to do, and then creating something spontaneously out of the joy of life at that moment. So it works on both levels, always with a strong emotion behind it.
I draw constantly, and I always have my sketchbooks with me when I travel – paints, watercolors. When you make movies, you have time off, or have to wait between setups, so what do you do with all that time? If I don’t have a lot of demanding dialogue to learn, I paint or draw in my trailer. Most of the time, my drawings end up going in my paintings; so there’s a constant doing, constant artistic activity. Over the years, it has developed into more and more of a passion.

Could you choose, if you had to, between acting and art?
That would be very hard. I love the work of an actor. It poses great challenges, but finishing a movie that audiences can see fills me with great satisfaction. It’s very gratifying. I also like creating something that has emotion and power. Sometimes, it’s timeless. I really wouldn’t like to have to make a choice. It would probably be wiser to stick to acting, though. It makes you more money (He laughs).

What do you turn to for inspiration?
Well, the life of an actor is sometimes pretty solitary. When I’m studying a script for several days, there often comes a moment when I begin to draw. Usually a still life. I have a series of works called “From Where I Sit.” It can be a landscape or a particular window that I sit in. I also have a series of paintings of chairs, most of which come from drawings before they go into a painting. Vincent van Gogh is one of my all-time favorite painters, I take great inspiration from his work. The inspiration comes from quiet reflection. It soothes me in the agitation of life. It’s a meditation, a way of calming oneself, of grounding oneself in a certain moment of time.

What remains belongs to the heart

How would you describe your art to someone who can’t see it?
I find that a difficult question to answer. Color, movement and surrealism. I love the world of surrealism. I love the word surrealism. One of the first artists who really captured my imagination was Salvador Dalí. This allowed me to express myself freely as an artist and abandon positions of shapes and colors. One dark night when my first wife was very ill, I just started to paint. I walked up to the canvas without any experience of holding a paintbrush or painting with a brush, and out came color. Color that filled me with hope and a sensation of ease and comfort.

You say you still have those pictures, created during a time of great intimacy and connection to your late wife. Would you ever consider selling them?
No, I think not. My wife Keely and I have been together for 31 years. I have been blessed in life with amazing women who have supported me and nurtured me. It was Keely who said: “You must show these works; they can’t just stay in storage. You should do an exhibition.” And so she curated the work. It took three years to put together, letting things ferment, and finding a gallery. Then we hung them up and put price tags on them. Keely put the prices on. It was quite a bit of money (laughs). Consequently, I still have them. My original works are very precious to me, very meaningful and very personal. But that show was the springboard for my collaboration with Stefanie.

From canvas to vase

You and Stefanie Hering, the German designer and ceramicist from Hering Berlin, collabo-rated on a limited edition of exclusive ceramic vases bearing your art. The collection has the same name as your solo show: So Many Dreams.
My wife Keely was always saying: “You should go to Art Basel Miami.” Well, we finally went and ended up having lunch with a group of about 40 people. One of them was Stefanie. Keely, who was sitting next to her, grabbed my arm at one point and said: “You must meet this woman, come, sit here.” So I went and sat beside Stefanie. That’s how we became friends and created these sculptural vases together.

Was it challenging to work in an entirely new medium?
Well, it wasn’t so much of a challenge, really, because the work was already there: the line drawings that I’m constantly making anyway and which I have many, many folders of. It was mostly a matter of showing Stefanie my work, sending her the drawings. She chose and I agreed, and we said things like “yes, this one looks good,” and “let’s do that.” It all went very smoothly. Stefanie is such a master craftswoman, a great artist and wonderful ceramicist. Her work is beautiful, elegant and cool. I very much enjoyed her company and we got on with a kind of easy grace. The results are ­absolutely elegant; they tell a story. There’s something quietly emotional about them.

Do you have any of those vases standing at home? What do you feel when you look at them?
Yes, I have some at my home in Malibu. I’m very proud of them. When I look at them, I feel the joy of friendship, of doing and of life – and that I created something with another artist whom I admire.

Doubt meets confidence

Have you ever done pottery yourself?
No, but I want to! We bought my son Paris a pottery wheel, but so far, it’s just been sitting in storage. One of these days, I’ll find it and have a go at pottery. I’d really like to create my own pots.

Is your focus more on art than on acting these days?
Right now, I’m thinking about my next show, but I’m not sure where I want to have it. I’d very much like to do a show with Paris. It would be really nice to work together. That’s all I know, and in the meantime, I shall carry on with my acting.

You’re a self-taught artist. Did you ever panic while standing in front of a blank canvas?
Oh yes, of course. But I usually know what I’m going to paint. What used to scare me was having to fill an entire canvas. I would begin, get the foundation down, and everything would look beautiful. But then, something would happen and I wouldn’t know where to go next. I’d be lost, start to think, and feel paralyzed with fear because I loved it so much and didn’t want to mess it up. There are also times when you don’t have any passion for your work. You have to allow yourself to feel that way and not worry. Because one day you’ll wake up and know exactly what you want to do.

What does painting do for you that acting doesn’t?
Acting is a collaboration between you, the author, the director and the other actors. So, you’re in the company of others and constantly interacting, which means you have to listen and react. Painting is solitary. It’s just me, the brushes, the canvas and the colors – I’m alone in my space of doing. Painting is very introspective; it’s very quiet, an internal movement of creative impulses. Acting and painting nurture me in different ways. They both feed the desire, need and want to be doing. Both are very much part of my life and make me who I am.