Pierce Brosnan Endorses Female Bond: "Get Out of the Way, Guys"

The actor says playing James Bond was his biggest achievement, but that it's time for a woman in the role.

Pierce Brosnan saved the world four times as James Bond, a career milestone he cites as his biggest achievement.

The actor says now is the time to pass the legendary role onto a woman, as Lashana Lynch is rumored to take over as the next 007 from Daniel Craig in the upcoming No Time to Die installment.

"Yes!" Brosnan said of the prospect of a female Bond. "I think we've watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there. I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting,” he said.

However, he expressed doubt that the change will play out onscreen under the current producers. “I don't think that's going to happen with the Broccolis. I don't think that is going to happen under their watch," he said.

As for how the franchise should approach the seductive spy character in the #MeToo era, Brosnan said Bond will have to change with the times.

“Without question, yes... The #MeToo movement has been relevant and significant and well needed in our society, so they'll have to address that,” he said.

Brosnan, on hand at the Deauville Film Festival for a career honor, said he looks back at those four films as his career highlight. “James Bond has a certain significance and a deep pride. I will be asked about him until my dying days — it just goes with the territory. He's a beloved character,” he said. “I was honored to play the role and I rejuvenated a franchise that had been dormant.”

The actor, who worked with Roman Polanski on The Ghost Writer in 2010, dismissed questions about the director's surprise red carpet appearance Saturday night at the festival and the selection of Woody Allen's A Rainy Day in New York as the festival's opener.

“Mr. Polanski and I have worked together, he's a brilliant filmmaker and so is Woody Allen. We celebrate them as filmmakers,” he said.

He's next off to shoot a Netflix comedy with Will Farrell and Rachel McAdams, about the Eurovision song contest. “I was thrilled to do it,” he said of the signing on to a script that makes him laugh “like a drain.” As for playing Farrell's father? “I look at myself on the screen, I don't see me, I see an old man. Gray hair, what? I always said I'd just grow into the gray. It's an exciting time because it leads to the next chapter of life.”