Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170020
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IAN SPELLING THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``I got the imagination going, sure, but Batman was the best,'' Brosnan says with obvious affection for the memory. ``We'd get out our raincoats, put them around our necks and button up the top button. That was our cape and, suddenly, we were Batman.''
Nowadays, and not so suddenly, Brosnan is playing another heroic character: Bond, as in James Bond. It's a role he was offered in 1986 but couldn't accept because of contractual obligations to his '80s TV series ``Remington Steele.''
Now, after nearly a decade of waiting to assume the role of Ian Fleming's legendary British superspy, Brosnan is following in the footsteps of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. His coming-out party begins today with the widely anticipated release of ``GoldenEye,'' the 17th film in MGM's Bond series.
``There's a certain sense of unreality to it,'' the handsome actor, dapper in a navy-blue suit, says during an interview at a Los Angeles hotel where the international ``GoldenEye'' publicity juggernaut had just begun.
``I still can't quite believe that we've done the movie and that, from the buzz I've seen and heard, it could very well be a tremendously successful film. I know that it's a very well-made, entertaining film.
``That I've finally done this bloody role after so many years of it being in and out of my life makes me very pleased.''
The ``GoldenEye'' story has all the elements of a true Bond thriller, with 007 out to stop a powerful Cold War-era weapon from being used to destroy jolly old England. Along the way there are stunts galore, exotic locales, good guys and bad guys, a gadgetmaster named Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and, of course, the Bond women, notably the murderous Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) and the heroic Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco).
Still, it's clear that a '90s sensibility has been added to the tried-and-true formula.
This time out Bond's boss, known only as ``M,'' is a woman - played with great gusto by Dame Judi Dench. A brawny American CIA agent (Joe Don Baker) refers to Bond as ``Jimbo,'' and Bond's assistant Miss Moneypenny (Samantha Bond) threatens, albeit jokingly, to slap 007 with a sexual-harassment suit.
One thing that hasn't changed, though, is the character's trademark chauvinistic attitudes when it comes to seducing women.
``Of course, we've got AIDS now, but Bond is Bond,'' Brosnan says. ``He is a sexist, completely. And if you don't make him one you don't have a Bond movie.
``People want a real Bond movie. Connery's Bond was just so damned arrogant and he went through women like there was no tomorrow.
``That's what has always turned people on. It turns men on and it turns the women on too, whether they like it or not.''
Brosnan has been a Bond fan since the age of 10, when he saw Connery portray the suave spy in ``Goldfinger'' (1964). He was quite excited about stepping into the role in 1986 - before the producers of ``Remington Steele'' refused to let him out of his soon-to-expire contract. (Timothy Dalton eventually won the part for 1987's ``The Living Daylights'' and 1989's ``Licence to Kill.'')
Much happened in Brosnan's life during the ensuing years. His acting career continued in respectable, if not earth-shattering, fashion with roles in TV movies as well as in such features as ``Nomads'' (1986), ``Lawnmower Man'' (1992), ``Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993) and ``Love Affair'' (1994).
On the personal front, Brosnan's wife, Cassandra Harris, an actress and a Bond girl in ``For Your Eyes Only'' (1981), died of ovarian cancer in 1992. Her death left the grieving Brosnan to rear the couple's three children - Sean, Charlotte and Christopher - as a single father.
``It was a tough time,'' Brosnan says somberly. ``It takes an enormous amount of time to heal one's self, and at the same time I had to shoulder my children's pain.
``An instinct somehow takes over that makes you guide and protect, and having Sean, Charlotte and Christopher around helped me too. Cassie would be enormously proud and pleased at how things have turned out for us.
``I know she's up there kicking her heels and she remains a very present part of my life. People who changed you, who touched you and loved you, never really go away.
``During the making of `GoldenEye' I was very aware of her presence. Part of me wants the film to succeed in her memory.''
Looking back to 1986, Brosnan says he probably wasn't ready - emotionally or as an actor - to take on the challenges of playing 007. Now, at 42, he feels more comfortable slipping into Bond-age.
``I'm older and there's a bit more age on my face,'' he says, smiling. ``There are a few more scars on the heart and the soul.
``There's more maturity to me as a man and an actor, more weight, more presence. I don't think it would have felt right in 1986. But it does now.''
After completing ``GoldenEye,'' Brosnan, who lives in Malibu, Calif., but also maintains a residence in London, near his mother and stepfather, took an extended vacation with his children and his girlfriend, journalist Keeley Shaye-Smith.
His batteries recharged, he's now ready to tackle his next major film: ``The Mirror Has Two Faces,'' which recently began production under the direction of Barbra Streisand.
``I play this wealthy businessman who marries Barbra's best friend (Mimi Rogers),'' Brosnan says. ``But Barbra has always had the hots for me.
``As a result of my marrying Mimi, Barbara transforms herself from a woman with low self-esteem into this beautiful creature. The script is all about illusions, how we perceive each other, and affairs of the heart.''
Before beginning ``GoldenEye,'' the actor filmed ``Robinson Crusoe'' as a telemovie for CBS. Miramax Films, seeing an opportunity to capitalize on Brosnan's newfound Bond fame, bought the rights to ``Crusoe'' and plans to release it as a feature film. Schedule permitting, Brosnan will shoot new sequences to flesh out the project.
After that, Brosnan may very well end up in a project of his own design. He recently set the wheels in motion by forming his own, yet-to-be-named production company at MGM-UA.
Though he's not sure he'll ever entirely forsake acting for producing and directing, Brosnan is thinking ahead.
``Life goes on with the speed of a flame, and I've realized that if `GoldenEye' is successful I'll have greater opportunities and greater clout to do what I want to do,'' he says. ``The trick will be to figure out what I want to do.
``I need to decide what kind of legacy I want to leave behind at the end of my days. All of that is very exhilarating and a very different way to think than I've ever thought before as an actor.
``It's a whole new ball game.''
by CNB