-Our first guest tonight is a legendary actor
you know from his work in films "The Thomas Crown Affair,"
the "Mamma Mia!" movies,
"Mrs. Doubtfire," and as James Bond.
He stars in "Black Adam,"
which premieres in theaters and IMAX October 21st.
Let's take a look.
-A wise man once told me
a bad plan is better than no plan at all.
-That was before we had a very bad plan.
-Let it go.
I'd rather be fighting with him than against him.
-What's the helmet telling you?
Somebody's gonna die.
Who is it, Atom Smasher? It's Atom Smasher.
-Surprisingly no.
-Is it me?
-When it's time for you and I to say goodbye, you'll know.
-Please welcome to the show Pierce Brosnan, everyone.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
That was very kind of you.
I feel like not enough of our guests
do a little dance right at the end.
-Oh, I just saw it on the TV one night.
And I thought I'd do it now.
-Very natural. Very good. -Very natural.
-I'm so happy to have you here. -Thank you.
-We worked together before but never met.
-This is true -- Sarah Jessica Parker, yourself.
-We were in a film called "I Don't Know How She Does It."
And you were the second lead.
And then I was on the end
where they had to make the arrow different --
from a different angle.
-Yeah. I remember that.
It was winter here. It was a beautiful time.
-It was nice. It was working in New York City.
Always a pleasure. -I enjoy it.
I always love New York. It's so good to be back here.
-It's great to be back here.
This is -- Did you know this world, the Black Adam --
You play Doctor Fate in the film.
These are famous DC Comic characters,
maybe not the most famous, though.
-My sons told me about them.
And so I did know about Black Adam.
I did know about Doctor Fate.
And, you know, it was the last thing I expected
but quietly desired
and wondered whether I would ever be asked
to be in one of these movies.
And it just came out of left field.
-So you finally found your way into a superhero movie.
Very nicely done. -I did, yeah, really.
Well, slow and steady. Tonight's a big night.
And it's a great film.
It's a beast of a film. It's a feast of a film.
And it was amazing being with Dwayne
and watching him do his thing.
I've watched this man rise
to the beautiful prominence that he has now as an actor.
And the cast were wonderful.
Aldis Hodge and Quintessa and Noah.
We game a kind of little quartet,
you know, the Justice Society.
-One of the very important things about Doctor Fate,
which I'm happy to report they got right, is the helmet,
which is -- -Oh, yes.
-They did a beautiful job.
Were you involved at all in the forging of the steel
to make the helmet or --
-No, but Jaume Collet-Serra, who's the director,
who's a really fantastic director, brilliant man,
and greatest admiration for him, again,
because this was a beast of a film, he said,
"Do you want to have a hand in creating this beautiful helmet?"
And I said, "Sure." And we talked about it.
And sent me photographs.
I said, "That looks like a bucket."
You know, it was just -- And something sleek and elegant.
And so, you know, in the movie,
you see me carrying this helmet around.
And that was the aesthetic, beautiful one.
And then they had another one which really was like a bucket.
So it fit on my head.
-It was -- Oh, I see.
So there's the prop you carry and then -- Yeah.
-Yeah. -Yeah, 'cause it's too sleek
to actually fit on a human head, right?
-[ Laughs ]
-I will say, it would have been very funny,
for all your wonderful acting
and all the seriousness of your dialogue,
if then you would just put a full bucket
on your head at the end. -Exactly.
Oh, I'm sure someone will do it.
You'll see it at some point.
-Were you aware -- Growing up in Ireland,
what were the superheroes you were aware of
back in the days of your youth?
-Oh, well, I grew up in a small country town, Southern Ireland.
And there were two cinemas, the Palace, the Lyric.
And I grew up on a kind of diet of cowboy movies.
-Sure. -My mother, bless her,
would send me, from London,
comic books, the "Eagle" comic books.
Um, I guess Batman was my hero.
So, you know, as a little boy in Ireland, Christian Brothers,
we'd put our raincoats around our neck
and swing from the bicycle shed, you know.
-A very -- Well, an upgrade on costume, then, this time, yeah.
-Very much so.
-Even a bucket would have been an upgrade over that.
-True.
-You have been --
You've been an artist for almost as long as you've been an actor.
And you actually have a gallery show coming up.
This is some of your beautiful artwork here.
-Thank you for showing -- [ Cheers and applause ]
Thank you. -I'm wondering --
It's -- I guess it's a little similar
in that when you make a film, you know, you do it
and then a great deal of time later, people get to judge it.
For a gallery show, it's the same.
Do you get nervous before people come in
to see one of your shows? -Yes.
I mean, this has on the cards for a few years now.
I've been painting since '87.
-Wow.
-I started as a trainee commercial artist
and discovered acting and became an actor, thank heavens.
These paintings -- Anthony Bourdain.
Broke my heart the morning I heard the news.
And I went and painted it straightaway.
The other one is called "Night Marcher."
We live out there in Hawaii, so it has a certain influence.
And, you know, I've just accrued so many paintings,
and my wife, Keely, said, "You got to show.
You have to show." -Is that her way of being like,
"You got to get them out of the house"?
-Got to get them out of the house.
Too much storage, money.
Our life is in storage.
So May 13th, we're gonna have a show in L.A.
I'll -- On May 16th, I turn 70.
-Alright. Look at that.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Get in under the wire.
-So I -- We talked a little bit backstage.
This was -- I did not realize.
This is one of my favorite films, "The Long Good Friday."
-It's a great movie. It's a great movie.
Holds up incredibly well. You're in it.
I did not realize it was your first film,
as evidenced by the fact you appear on the poster
less than I appeared on "I Don't Know How She Does It."
So... -Yeah.
-That is not saying a lot about your billing at the time.
There's a wonderful --
It's the final scene in the film.
I don't want to give anything away.
But it's you and the great Bob Hoskins.
-That's right.
-He gets in the back seat of a car.
You turn around with a gun.
It's an incredibly dramatic final scene.
-Yeah. -He was --
It was like you and I on "I Don't Know How She Does It."
You never met him. -Never saw the man.
I was out of drama school maybe a year.
My director said, "You've got a movie, 'Long Good Friday.'
You're playing IRA Man Number One."
I went, "Okay. Great.
I'm in the movies. I'm off to the races."
And they just said --
They didn't send me the script.
They said, "Show up at Tooting Bec swimming pool
6:00 tomorrow morning."
I went and I was IRA Man Number One.
-Yeah.
Got to do a murder right away.
-Got to kill him -- pick a guy up
and then stab him in the shower.
[ Laughter ]
Usual fare.
But it's a -- Yes.
I mean, the soundtrack on this movie --
-It's one of the most iconic. It's amazing.
I watched the scene today,
and every time you watch anything from the film,
you remember exactly how haunting that score is.
-Yeah, and the end of the movie, they --
we got to the Savoy Hotel, and I really wanted to drive the car,
because I knew what the scene was now,
that we had the guy, we had Bob Hoskins, number-one guy.
And I thought, "I really want to drive the car.
I just so want to drive the car.
Gonna look like Steve McQueen. It's gonna be so cool."
And the director, John Mackenzie, said,
"Right, you're in the front seat.
In the front. Get down there now."
And I thought, "Oh [bleep] This is no good.
This is really boring."
And we drove down the Strand, and John Mackenzie,
the director, God bless him, he drove.
Phil Meheux was in the back with the camera.
And he said, "Action."
And he said, "Just come up and point the gun."
And Bob Hoskins wasn't there.
He was just, you know, a dot on the camera.
-I mean, you certainly would never watch it and not think --
As actors, you both obviously do an incredible job
making me believe you were there at the same time.
-Well, it's Bob Hoskins.
Bob Hoskins just owns that scene.
And I just happened to be part of that scene.
-Yeah, I guess probably still, like,
that's less of a special effect
than we're gonna see in "Black Adam."
-"Black Adam" is huge. It's a colossal piece.
-I think it speaks to exactly
how long you've been in this business
that you go from IRA Man Number One to Doctor Fate.
Not a bad ride.
-Stay in the ring as long as you can.
Thanks a million. -Pierce Brosnan, everybody.
"Black Adam" -- theaters and IMAX October 21st.
We'll be right back with Sharon Horgan.