James Bond Actor Refused to Work with 'Hottest 25-Year-Old' Angelina Jolie, Demanded Charlize Theron Instead
Believe it or not, one of the most iconic Agent 007’s, Pierce Brosnan, decided against working with young Angeline Jolie despite appreciating her beauty.
The James Bond franchise has been around for many decades, and quite a few men have portrayed the legendary superspy during that time. Most of them got used to having their “Bond girls” around, but not Pierce Brosnan: he specifically refused to work with young Angelina Jolie and claimed that he needed a more “mature” partner.
This didn’t happen on the set of another James Bond movie, though, but rather on the set of a separate feature — 1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair. In the movie, Pierce Brosnan played a bored billionaire who decided to participate in a heist for his own entertainment. Apart from that, Brosnan was the film’s producer, and he had very specific casting requirements.
When it was suggested that Angelina Jolie played his romantic partner in The Thomas Crown Affair, Brosnan reacted quite surprisingly. He stated that he didn’t want to work with the young actress, who was around 24-25 years old at the time, as it didn’t fit his vision: he wanted his character to have a more mature relationship.
“Actually, he said, ‘Don’t get the hottest 25- and 26-year-old. I want someone a little more mature, so we have a mature relationship,’” recalls Brosnan’s casting director, Pat McCorkle.
Who could’ve been a worthy replacement for Jolie, though? Admittedly, Pierce Brosnan had great taste in movies and could appreciate a talent when he saw one because his actress of choice was none other than Charlize Theron. The actor himself didn’t think of this as a “replacement” or even a personal matter.
“Nothing against Angelina Jolie. I think she’s a magnificent actress. But Charlize has a poise about her and has an inner strength and femininity which I really like to watch. <...> Charlize Theron is someone who I’ve always admired. I think she’s someone who has acquitted herself grandly,” explained Brosnan.
Regardless of this decision’s importance or unimportance, The Thomas Crown Affair turned out to be a great movie, and there were even talks about making a sequel. However, after almost 25 years, there’s still no news about that, so maybe, we should just appreciate Pierce Brosnan’s 1999 movie and be grateful for it.
Source: Weekend Edition Saturday via NPR