As every man who has ever possessed a license to kill, once you’re James Bond, you’re forever James Bond. And Pierce Brosnan is no different. Unless you’re one of the mums who love him in Mamma Mia, his career has been defined by the seven years he spent playing Bond, which resulted in four films of a varying standard. But he was a quintessential Bond, even when left down by the films he was in.

Brosnan had the cerebral toughness of Connery, the swagger of Moore and even the intensity of Dalton while adding his own roguish charm to the iconic role.

But there is much more to Brosnan. While he often played with the Bond persona in his biggest movie roles, he is capable of meatier fare and is seriously underrated as a comedy actor. His current role in MobLand on Paramount+ as a fearsome gangland boss sees him balance slimy nastiness and a deft, if sinister comedic hand as he plays against the likes of Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren and Paddy Considine.

Brosnan’s career has seen him work with the likes of Tim Burton, Edgar Wright and Chris Columbus; an idiosyncratic trio of names that encapsulates his widespread appeal across the cinematic spectrum. He has also started working more than ever. Last year alone saw Brosnan appear in four separate films and one TV show with roles as varied as a boxing trainer, the head of an intelligence service and a retired union leader turned amateur murder detective. Even at 73, he’s proving he still has a few tricks left up his tuxedo.

Here are Pierce Brosnan’s 10 best film roles, ranked from 10 to 1.

10) The World's End

Edgar Wright had made use of Brosnan’s Bond predecessor in Hot Fuzz in a villainous role and in the third and final instalment of his Cornetto Trilogy, recruited the 73-year-old to play the former teacher of the group of school friends led by Simon Pegg. Brosnan’s appearance in the film was not revealed until after the release of the film, with him also being part of a pivotal twist that he’s actually one of the leaders of the Blanks. It’s a neat little cameo appearance that shows a side of Brosnan not often seen on screen.

9) Mrs Doubtfire

Before he was James Bond, Brosnan was best known for playing the titular character in Remington Steele on American TV, a role which forced him to turn down playing 007 when he was first approached in the mid-'80s. After the show finished and before Bond, he did a lot of jobbing around in films that were never heard from again. And Mrs Doubtfire. Playing the love rival of Robin Williams's titular crossdresser in the comedy phenomenon, Brosnan is expectedly charming and is particularly enjoyable when he nearly chokes to death on some seafood.

8) Dante's Peak

Among the plethora of disaster movies that appeared in the mid-to-late '90s, including Twister, Armageddon and Deep Impact, Dante’s Peak went a little under the radar, despite pairing Brosnan with Terminator legend Linda Hamilton. Reception towards the film has improved in more recent years, with much praise aimed at the action sequences, special effects and, unusually for a Hollywood film, its scientific accuracy.

7) Black Bag

A nod to his role of James Bond by essentially casting him as M, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is a perilously tense mystery thriller set within the world of the UK’s intelligence community. In a relatively small role, Brosnan plays the oily head of the National Cyber Security Centre and it’s a breath of fresh air to see him embrace a darker character that’s very much an inversion of Bond.

Adapted from Robert Harris's best selling thriller, The Ghost, Roman Polanski’s film sees Brosnan play prime minister Adam Lang. Though the film descended into plots of CIA moles and assassinations, it remains one of the most immaculately crafted – yet slightly silly – political thrillers of the last 20 years. And Brosnan’s eerily charming, yet threatening, performance towers above it all.

5) The Matador

In the immediate aftermath of his departure from James Bond, Brosnan embraced a number of roles to mixed success, as he worked relatively sparingly. The one big home run hit of his immediate post-Bond career was the oddball comic thriller The Matador, in which he plays an eccentric hitman past his prime opposite Greg Kinnear’s down on his luck businessman. All in all, it might be Brosnan’s best performance and is one that brought him a rare bit of awards attention, with a Golden Globe nomination in 2005.

4) Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies sees Brosnan lean heavier into the smarmy puns than he does in GoldenEye, but that is offset by Michelle Yeoh’s no-nonsense Bond girl, Wai-Lin. It’s the type of dynamic that was sorely missing in future Brosnan Bonds, which were beset with subpar screenplays and casting missteps.

3) The Tailor of Panama

Again, Brosnan plays a Bond alternative in The Tailor of Panama, John Boorman’s adaptation of the John Le Carre book of the same name. While most Le Carre protagonists tend to be of a dour, quietly intelligent nature, Andy Osnard is almost a parody of Bond with his drinking, womanising and cavalier approach to espionage. With a darkly comedic streak, Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush have impeccable chemistry as slippery sides of the same coin.

2) The Thomas Crown Affair

As close to playing Bond as you can get without being Bond. Brosnan’s Thomas Crown is everything you would expect from the Irishman – he’s debonair, irresistible to the ladies and possesses an unmatched casual cool that even rivals Steve McQueen in the 1960’s original. Brosnan’s chemistry with Rene Russo is especially scintillating, and while the role was hardly a stretch for him, there was not a better actor in the 1990s that so embodied classic Hollywood style, especially in an increasingly alternative world.

1) GoldenEye

More than 30 years later, Brosnan’s Bond debut remains his best. A reinvention of 007 in the post-Cold War world, Bond appeared more psychologically complex, reintroduced the cavalier flair of Sean Connery and included some meta commentary on the series' history of sexism. Brosnan facing off against Sean Bean (who also could have easily played Bond) is one of the entire series’ highlights, as is the stunt work on show, with the tank sequence in Saint Petersburg being the film’s most enduring image.

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