Playing James Bond gave me longevity, says Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan thinks playing James Bond has given him career "longevity".

The 72-year-old actor was actually warned against accepting the role of Bond by Christopher Fettes, his teacher and mentor - but Pierce insists he doesn't have any regrets about his decision.

He told the Guardian newspaper: "Christopher wanted me doing obscure 19th-century plays, but my dream was always movies."

Daniel Craig, Pierce's successor as 007, actually returned to theatre work after leaving the role. However, Pierce has never been tempted to swap movies for theatre work.

He said: "I was impressed that Daniel had the bottle to go back out there. I thought, ‘Why the heck didn’t I?’ You have to really want it, and I didn’t."

Pierce played Bond between 1995 and 2002, and he's never regretted accepting the part.

Asked whether Christopher was correct about Bond being beneath him, Pierce replied: "It’s very kind of Christopher. But thank God for Bond. It’s given me longevity. It’s given me the world in many respects."

Pierce previously insisted that the next Bond actor should be British.

Numerous high-profile actors have been linked with the role in recent years, including the likes of James Norton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Paul Mescal, Cillian Murphy and Aidan Turner - but Pierce believes that the role should be awarded to a Brit.

The Hollywood star also supported the decision for the franchise's long-standing producers - Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson - to hand creative control to Amazon.

He told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "It takes great courage for them to let go.

"I hope that [Amazon] handles the work and the character with dignity and imagination and respect."

Pierce also insisted that he feels proud of his own legacy with the Bond franchise.

He said: "History has been passed on and I'm very proud to have been part of the history and the legacy of Bond and the movies I made with Barbara and Michael."

Meanwhile, Taron Egerton recently claimed that he's too "messy" to play James Bond.

The 35-year-old actor believes there are "so many cool, younger actors" who would be better suited to the coveted role.

Asked about the possibility of playing Bond, he told Collider: "I don't think I'm a good choice for it. I think I'm too messy for that.

"I think I'm not— I really love James Bond and particularly Daniel Craig's tenure. But I think I wouldn't be good at it, and I think there's so many cool, younger actors who would be great for it. I think it would be wasted on me, probably."

Taron observed that leading the Bond franchise is "quite an undertaking".

He said: "I think I'm a period in my life where, as you say, I've been probably following the things that speak to me on a creative level a little bit more, but, you know, I'm sure I won't feel that way forever.

"But James Bond is quite an undertaking and I think, one, as far as I'm aware, nobody's asking me to do it."