Halle Berry Says Former Costar Pierce Brosnan ‘Restored My Faith in Men’

Halle Berry has nothing but nice memories about her time in the James Bond franchise thanks to costar Pierce Brosnan.

“He will always be my Bond, always,” Berry, 58, gushed about working with Brosnan, 71, in 2002’s Die Another Day during her Wired Autocomplete Interview earlier this month. “I’m a Pierce Brosnan fan. He restored my faith in men on that movie.”

Berry went on to state that “there couldn’t be a human who is more of a gentleman than Pierce Brosnan,” who starred as the James Bond series’ titular spy in four of the franchise’s films — 1995’s Golden Eye, 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999’s The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Berry was previously married to David Justice from 1993 to 1997 and was married to Eric Benét at the time of Die Another Day’s release. The pair called it quits after four years of marriage in 2005, after which Berry moved on with Olivier Martinez, to whom she was married from 2013 to 2016. (Brosnan, meanwhile, was married to Cassandra Harris from 1980 to 1991 and has been married to his wife, Keely Shaye Smith, since 2001.)

Berry went on to reveal that appearing in the iconic franchise “wasn’t on my wish list” prior to being cast in her Bond girl role as NSA agent Giacita “Jinx’ Johnson. “I loved the movies, always,” she stated. “But having been in one, I feel like I’m a part of cinematic history. Those movies are iconic. They will forever be a part of our history, and I’m really honored to have been a part of one, especially with Pierce.”

Following Die Another Day, Brosnan passed the James Bond torch to Daniel Craig, who went on to star in five Bond films from 2006 to 2021. Over the years, Brosnan has weighed in on which lucky actor should be Craig’s successor, suggesting earlier this year that his fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy would be a good fit for the role.

“Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty’s Secret Service,” Brosnan told the BBC back in March at the Oscar Wilde Awards. At the same event, Murphy, 47, told Variety that he is “a bit old” to become Bond, adding, “I will say I think that ship has sailed.”

While names such as Regé-Jean Page, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill and Dev Patel have floated around as potential casting options, news broke in March that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had reportedly been offered the role. Though the casting has not been officially confirmed, Brosnan did give the choice his stamp of approval.

“I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so,” he said during a March appearance on The Ray D’Arcy Show. “So, yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow.”

Taylor-Johnson, for his part, told Numero in March that he found the Bond speculation “charming and wonderful,” adding, “I take it as a great compliment.”