‘Bond-ing’ with ‘The November Man’ Cast at the LA Press Conference

By Jorge Carreón.

Remember when Pierce Brosnan took over the iconic role of James Bond with the release of “Goldeneye” in 1995? He weathered a brief storm of “What? Remington Steele is Bond?” from some of the more incredulous media mavens of the day. (I can only imagine what it would have been like if the Internet was at the peak of its “trolls running amok” power.) But, Brosnan did prove his mettle as 007, restoring plenty of box office might to the franchise in the process. The role fit him like a Savile Row suit, coming across as an expertly tailored, classic and an oh-so sexy variation of the Gentleman Spy.

Then the world changed…again.

Sure, the Bond films have always played fast and loose with geopolitics and stereotypical post-Cold War villainy. But that was before the Gulf Wars succeeded in giving rise to new global threats while opening up the scars of old paranoid fears. Nothing tapped into this desire for retribution more than Doug Liman’s adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” (2005). Not only did these films redefine a genre, it re-calibrated the concept of The Action Hero. The Gentleman Spy wasn’t enough anymore. Enter The Anti-Hero.

Often flawed and morally ambivalent characters, the violent journeys of The Anti-Hero are often those of conflicted men who ultimately recognize they possess a soul. Leave it to Brosnan’s veteran contemporaries like Liam Neeson (“Taken”) and Kevin Costner (“3 Days to Kill”) to turn The Anti-Hero into a cottage industry. Yet, what Brosnan does with his role as ex-CIA agent Peter Devereaux in “The November Man” shatters his image as the Gentleman Spy to create an Anti-Hero hybrid of a unique design. And he couldn’t appreciate the timing any more.

“When ‘The Bourne Identity’ came onto the stage,” Brosnan said, “you could just feel the circle had shifted and had become more muscular. The Bond team did the business the way they did the business and it made sense. I probably wished I had picked up the gun sooner, but I picked it up when I picked it up. This is the moment in time that we set sail with this. The serendipitous scenario we find ourselves in now with the geopolitical state of affairs with Russia seems to be a sweet irony for us as filmmakers with “The November Man.”

Brosnan cuts a formidable path when he walks into the room. After all, it is hard not to gush to yourself that “James Bond” is sitting a few feet away from you. And as you’d expect, the man can wear a suit and knows how to engage a gathered group of press.

Still, as much as Brosnan had much to say about bringing another literary figure to life, in this case Bill Granger’s Devereaux, the journalists’ questions would circle around comparisons to 007. As “The November Man” poster in the corner of the room stated, “A spy is never out the game.” And the media has yet to send the specter of Bond back to the bench. But, if the comparisons bothered Brosnan, he never revealed any trace of discomfort. In fact, he made a point to recognize the blessings brought on by his most enduring film role to date.

“Bond was so big and mighty in my career,” Brosnan said. “It is the gift that just keeps giving and I wouldn’t be here today in the company of you all talking about ‘The November Man’ if it hadn’t been for James Bond.”

Here are is bit more of declassified intel on “The November Man” as only its star could reveal:

QUESTION: After being an era defining Bond, why take on such a radically different type of action hero?

PIERCE BROSNAN: After my four outings as James Bond, there seemed to be unfinished business. Beau came to me with the idea. She and I have made numerous films, “The Thomas Crown Affair” and “The Matador.” We had a good friendship and understanding of each other’s lives. There was a desire, a want and need to make this film, “The November Man.” I love the title. It had sensuality and a mystique to it and the writing of (author) Bill Granger had a complexity of character, a punch and grit. It gave me the opportunity to really take the gloves off and be hard as nails and be ambivalent in my moral values as a character. It was seductive and enticing and it really came together with (director) Roger (Donaldson).

QUESTION: What proved the most seductive aspect of playing a role like Devereaux in “The November Man?”

BROSNAN: He’s a highly trained individual, a cultured badass. He’s a man who has a life all of his own and he’s someone who has been manipulated by his seniors. He’s a man who has found peace in his life. We started the story there with this man in semi-retirement, so to speak. The character of Devereaux, as written by Bill Granger, just appealed to me because of his humanity. There’s fractures in his psyche and yet, he’s extremely brutal and savage in his execution of what has to be done. He’s a working operative and there’s no bells or whistles or gadgets. He lives a very simple life for his daughter.

QUESTION: The action genre has stepped up the physicality in recent years, even though it’s always been a job for an adrenaline junkie. How did this experience compare to previous outings?

BROSNAN: Lots of Epsom salts and a little martini at the end of the day and luckily no bruises, no cuts, no bones broken. Mark Mottram, who was my stunt double on James Bond, he and I saved the world a couple of times and he’s a mighty man. He was our stunt coordinator and he brought over a bunch of lads from London who are great car guys and bike men. But these younger actors, you know? Goddamn you! (Laughs) Youth. Really. Just as I’m getting the hang of it, you step onto the stage. Oh, anyway, it’s just full out. When you do fight sequence, you just got to go for it. It worked well. It was vicious, hard, intense, and brutal and yet, sorrowful, too. There’s the father and son element of these characters and we wanted that. I wanted that. I wanted someone who could have that feeling towards someone that comes from love. After all the shit hits the fan and the explosion, it’s like, “Good Lord! How did I get pulled back into this game?” So there’s a humanity there that you want to have in these people and everyone brought that. All the characters did.

QUESTION: Many young boys dream of being the hero. You’ve had a chance to play the ultimate hero several times. Why do you relate so much to these types of characters?

BROSNAN: Because I love movies. I adore movies and I grew up on Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty. I mean, the list goes on. I wanted to be in movies. As an innocent, romantic lad of maybe 11, 12, 13 and with not much in the back pocket, but some dreams, there you go. I became an actor and I found that I was good at it and it made me happy. It made me happy to make people happy. It’s kind of as simple as that, really. I saw the first James Bond in 1964 as a lad and it was bedazzling, beguiling. I never thought, never dreamt that I was going to be such a man, such a character. You become an actor and… I don’t know. A man becomes what he dreams so to speak.

“The November Man” is playing in theaters nationwide now.

“Code named ‘The November Man’; Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) is an extremely dangerous and highly trained ex-CIA agent, who is lured out of quiet retirement on a very personal mission. He must protect valuable witness, Alice Fournier, (Olga Kurylenko) who could expose the truth behind a decades old conspiracy. He soon discovers this assignment makes him a target of his former friend and CIA protégé David Mason (Luke Bracey). With growing suspicions of a mole in the agency, there is no one Devereaux can trust, no rules and no holds barred.”