Pierce Brosnan on point

June 14th, 2008 · No Comments

Pierce Brosnan at the Maui Film Festival

Actor describes his career successes, gratitude for island living during Maui Film Festival; other movie stars lauded

Just as Pierce Brosnan was being introduced at a Maui Film Festival tribute at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on Thursday night, the rain began to really come down.

“I’m deeply proud to be here,” began the actor.

“We’re having a little blessing,” he added without missing a beat.

With a home on Kauai, he is obviously no stranger to an island way of looking at things.

“I’m from Ireland,” he explained, describing his Hawaii life with his wife, Keely Shaye Smith, and kids as “a bit like Ireland, with the heat turned up.”

Brosnan, 55, was accepting the festival’s Maverick Award “in honor of his commitment to make movies that matter as well as his long-standing efforts to work for environmental justice and the triumph of the spirit of all life on earth.”

Sprinkled among his acting prizes are the 2007 Goldene Kamera Award for his environmental efforts, honorary doctorates from the Dublin Institute of Technology and the University College Cork and an Order of the British Empire bestowed by the queen.

By his own account, his acting career is a “work in progress.”

With his place in screen legend and on the box-office charts firmly established for playing guys like James Bond, Thomas Crown and Remington Steele, there’s been a twinkle in Brosnan’s eye during his festival appearances, as though bemused at his success, his looks, the effect he has on audiences and fans.

His tribute Thursday followed others earlier that evening for actress Virginia Madsen and actor Dennis Quaid.

“Someone like Mr. Dennis Quaid and myself are people in our 50s. You have a career, you’ve built up a reputation, you want to stay at the table as long as you can and you want to be able to grow,” he mused.

“You want to be able to create interesting roles. That comes about by being courageous and adventuresome and leaping off into the wild blue yonder and trying to do something different.

“I’ve made a very good career on the back of Remington Steele and James Bond. I suppose that’s what I’ll be known for. But now, what else? What else do you have up your sleeve.”