James Bond star Pierce Brosnan believes that ‘toxic’ America has changed dramatically since he moved there in 1982, and says that it is ‘crushing’ to see a reality TV star as President.
Brosnan moved to America as a young actor to pursue his dream, and now holds duel Irish and American citizenship.
The 007 actor told GQ: “Well, I have a great, deep sorrow for the men and women who are the dreamers, who find themselves in this cataclysmic climate that we now live in.
“There seems to be very little forgiveness. There seems to be very little understanding of their lives.”
He described a very different country of opportunity when he arrived in 1982.
“As soon as I got off the plane, back there in 1982, summer of, I just felt lucky. I felt blessed to be here. I felt free. I could be anybody I wanted to be.
“I could be the Irish that I was, I could be the English that I had acquired. I could be this cross-pollinated immigrant with dreams and aspirations.
“So no, I’ve always felt welcomed. My first steps in America were down 7th Avenue. The day I got in, I went straight to the Statue of Liberty.
“It had a cinematic flair to it. There’s such a terrible toxicity in the climate now, and it seems to be very caustic and brutal. It’s going to be hard times, I think.”
The Co Navan man continued: “We just have to weather these days with the man that is in office now, and it’s very hard to understand how it came to pass. It came out of reality TV, and that’s just rather crushing.
“But I think it is such a young country still, and there’s such visionary young men and women out there who will see the writing on the wall and, across the tweets of it all, that there will be a resistance. There has to be a resistance. There has to be voices heard.
“And I have strong faith. I love this country. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to have come here as an Irishman, as an immigrant, as an actor looking for work, and to achieve what I have achieved.”
Brosnan has faced heartache in his life, after his first wife Cassandra died of ovarian cancer in 1991.
He found love again in 2001 when he married journalist Keely Shaye Smith.
The couple have two sons together plus a combined three more from their previous relationships.
Brosnan is reflective about life and the pain we can suffer. He said: “You have to have good faith. You’re going to suffer one way or the other. You’re going to…
“It’s truly unavoidable, and so you just have to know that the days will get better, and you just have to endure whatever pain has been given to you. And then put it down and try and do good things.
“Work and love. That’s all it is, really. Be grateful that you have a partnership, or a friendship, or a few friends. And just get on with life. I don’t know any other way.”
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