Next Tuesday, May 16th 2023, Pierce Brosnan will turn 70.

Upon approaching his 60th birthday back in 2012 the Irish James Bond star reflected that 60 was not just another number but a sharp corner that made him stop and think:

"I cruised in over 50, and I was good. 51, 52, 53, a little bit of turbulence. Psychic turbulence. Then you creep up the ladder there, and ... The body, the mind, the judgment of life. You have to stay alert. You become more passionate about being alive and being present with your children. You don't have the same nerves about acting. You still get nerves. Wednesday will be the first day on the set of my next movie with Toni Collette and Imogen Poots, I'm caught between this world and that. But I still have the passion and drive to try to be great."

Pierce Brosnan aired his views on aging at a press junket during the 69th annual Venice International Film Festival. Bond•O•Rama.dk was in attendance and had the good fortune to meet the then 59-year-old actor in an intimate two-on-one session as well as at a larger conference for the European press. Brosnan was in town to promote Danish director Susanne Bier's dramedy "Love is All You Need" (original Danish title: "Den skaldede frisør" = The Bald Hairdresser) which he had enjoyed making. The full transcripts of the two interviews have never before been released but are now made available for free in celebration of Pierce Brosnan's 70th birthday.

I am also quoted in a one-page profile on Brosnan which will appear in the Danish daily Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten on Tuesday May 16, 2023.

● The edited and published Pierce Brosnan interviews (2012) can be found here

One small anecdote: To this day I regret that I missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity when I met Pierce Brosnan in Venice. Before the actual interview, which took place in a large white tent, I was waiting around wearing a cream-coloured suit which happened to exactly match the leather couch that Brosnan and I were both standing next to. Pierce, who seemed relaxed and amiable while killing time like me, noticed the similar colours and cheerfully remarked that I was dressed for the occasion. If only I had had the good sense to capture that moment for posterity! Instead you will have to settle for this grainy snapshot of the younger Brosnan arriving at the Odeon Leicester Square for the London gala premiere of "GoldenEye" in 1995 where I was standing behind the barricades in a crowd of cheering fans, all stretching our necks to catch a glimpse of the celebrity guests.

DEN SKALDEDE FRISØR (Love is All You Need)

Danish junket, Venice Film Festival 2012 - 17 mins

Q: Your character in "Love is All You Need" says that he hates our bloody country. What was your impression of Denmark?
Pierce Brosnan: Mine was that I enjoyed your country. Copenhagen I really adored, I had the most fantastic time. Loved the country, loved the artists that I met. I started my career as a painter, as an artist so I was fascinated by the work that was going on there. Susanne's films had intrigued me enormously. The Dogma of it all, when those films came on the stage years ago, that was quite fascinating. There was a challenge in my mind to start with, of how I was gonna fit into this whole scenario. But Susanne just said, don't worry about that. And we *were* fine.