Brosnan was interviewed on the eve of the release of Mamma Mia!, the ABBA-inspired musical for which he was required to sing two songs. (He almost died from nerves, he admits.) He predicted "big success" for the film, which was released July 17 - and was he ever right. After five weekends, Mamma Mia!, co-starring Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Colin Firth, had accumulated a world-wide box-office gross of over $300-million and was entrenched in the top 10, making it a certified summer blockbuster.

The results would certainly be welcome news for the Irish-born former star of the James Bond series, but as he revealed in a conversation with journalist Vincent Clarke, success in movies as measured by box-office sales does not define his happiness. The death of his wife Cassandra Harris in 1991 from ovarian cancer launched him into fundraising efforts to find a cure for cancer, and he cites the birth of two sons in 1997 and 2001 with his second wife, journalist Keely Shaye Smith, as helping make him more aware of the need to support environmental and other causes to preserve the earth for their future. The family now lives in Hawaii, in part to focus on raising a family and distance him from the hub of the movie industry in Los Angeles.

Brosnan was in a relaxed mood as he fielded questions.

* * *

Clarke: Are you really a fan of ABBA, being an Irishman?

Brosnan: It is true that I grew up listening to the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the Dubliners. However, I have to say that I, indeed, liked ABBA's songs if I heard them on the radio.

Almost all of them have fantastic melodies.

Clarke: It's the first time for you singing in front of the camera, right?

Brosnan: No, I did a movie called Evelyn, six or seven years ago.

I'm singing a few Irish pub songs in it. But the "Didli-didli-doo" came easy to me - particularly after I had had some pints of Guinness. You can't compare that to the highly challenging songs of ABBA.

Clarke: Were you nervous when you had to sing?

Brosnan: Nervous? I almost died on the way to the studio in which we recorded the songs. Even though the ABBA composers Bjorn (Ulvaeus) and Benny (Andersson) were amazingly nice and told us to just sing easily from the gut, I was terribly nervous anyway. Not until I saw that my singing fellows, Colin (Firth) and Stellan (Skarsgard) were at least as pale as I was could I relax a bit. I sing two songs: The Winner Takes it All and S.O.S. together with Meryl Streep. The duet was one of the ultimate highlights of my acting career.

(Critics, however, were less enthusiastic. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Hearing Pierce Brosnan trying to carry a tune in Mamma Mia! was painful."

Clarke: Wasn't it Meryl Streep who was the reason for you to participate in Mamma Mia?

Brosnan: You can say that. When my agent called and asked whether I wanted to be in Mamma Mia!, I asked him who else would be in it. He said: "Meryl Streep..." - and at that point I said: "I'm in. Send me the script." (laughs) I didn't even ask about my salary.

It was one of the most beautiful movies I ever participated in. Standing in front of the camera with Meryl Streep alone - fantastic!

Clarke: This surely healed your wounds.

Brosnan: What do you mean?

Clarke: Well, after your not-all-voluntary departure from Bond, you did several movies, but they weren't big blockbusters.

Brosnan: Well, there are ups and downs in the life of any actor. After 30 years I'm still very good in business. Currently I'm preparing another Thomas Crown movie, which is great fun to me. But to be honest, I have to say that the success is not that important to me any more. Over the years, certain priorities change.

Clarke: Does that mean that you're no longer as ambitious as you used to be?

Brosnan: No, I still give 110 per cent for projects that I'm doing. But I no long bother that much if it isn't that successful.

Clarke: But it surely bothered you when you were ejected as Bond?

Brosnan: I would have loved to do another Bond movie. Just after the fourth movie, Die Another Day, was when I had gotten used to the role. And even though I had something to nag about every once in a while, I'm very proud of my Bond interpretations. Those were 10 ample years. But, so what?!

I also want to use this possibility to eliminate another rumour: I think that Daniel Craig is doing a great job, being the new Bond. I wish him all the best.

Clarke: Does it annoy you that you'll always remain "Bond no. 5" for most of the moviegoers?

Pierce Brosnan: As much as I'm modest, that'd do me a bit wrong. I do believe that I made some other movies that are definitely worth mentioning.

But I don't want to advertise myself right here, it's everybody's right to think of me the way he or she wants to. Certainly the Bond movies were a caesura in my career. I can definitely say that 007 changed my life radically. Before, movies were hard work. I had to feed my family, pay the rent and pull us through. I didn't have the possibility to be picky then and so I also made some rubbish movies. We simply needed the money. Ever since I got the chance to be James Bond, I receive better scripts.

Clarke: You accepted American citizenship in 2004 and have been living in Hawaii with your family ever since ...

Brosnan: ... which I actually enjoy very much. Even though it's not an escape, it definitely is a little rejection to the Los Angeles-actor life, which is pretty crazy at times. I know what I'm talking about. I lived in Malibu for a long time. That's one of the things I'm referring to, saying that priorities change. Meanwhile nothing in the world is more important to me than life with my family. As well as my engagement for environmental protection. It's not just words that I say, because it's hip at the moment. It's a big heart's desire of mine. I really want to contribute to leaving our children a world that is a bit better than it was when we got it.

Clarke: With due respect - but isn't this just a pious hope?

Brosnan: That'd be terrible. I really believe that every one of us can do something unique and positive, to make the world remain a planet worth living on - if only we want to. Apart from that: what alternative do we have? Doing nothing and watching it all go down the drain? That'd be too easy.

Clarke: Do you have any self-doubts?

Brosnan: Of course I do! In these moments I'm breaking down into this massively deep hole and then I hate myself anymore and I hate my job - the entire world-weariness. The only thing that helps me then is doing something. Fighting for the environment or for women's rights. I also hope that we'll get rid of cancer in the near future. Since the death of my first wife Cassandra in 1991, I've been supporting organizations fighting cancer.

Clarke: Does it make you a better man, being a person of public life?

Brosnan: You start thinking about yourself, always being fair game for the media. What do I fancy in life? You become humble pretty fast, believe me.

Clarke: What was your most amorous event of the recent time?

Pierce Brosnan: (laughs) You don't really think that I'm going to tell you about my sex life, do you? But one of the most sensual things I witnessed in my life was a Monet exhibition that I visited in Paris some years ago. But yet that wasn't all: Monet's garden was opened for me exclusively.

Indescribably. There was I, in this magical place, with a bottle of wine, looking at the bridges and the pond with the nymphets in it. The flowerbed and the Babylon willows. After that I was shown around in his house. The yellow kitchen and later I sat in his studio. You know, I started painting myself some years ago... It was heaven.

Clarke: The Mamma Mia! musical brought in $2-billion in the 10 years of its runtime. Do you think that the movie can top that?

Brosnan: Actually, I don't care. I'm an actor, not a clerk. All I know is that I had a great time shooting in Greece. Nobody can take this experience away from me. Great memories are among the most valuable things in life. Don't you think so, too?

* * *

BROSNAN TOP 50-PLUS ICON AMONG GAYS

According to online dating agency gay-parship.co.uk, and reported by zeenews.com, Pierce Brosnan is the most popular film icon aged over 50 among gay respondents.

The recent poll conducted by gay-parship.co.uk gave Brosnan 33 per cent of the vote, followed by Bruce Willis at 25 and Richard Gere at 14 per cent. Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson rounded out the top five.

Among female actors, Helen Mirren topped the survey of favourite icons among lesbians with 32 per cent of the vote. Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep claimed second and third places with 28 and 25 per cent respectively, with Goldie Hawn and Dolly Parton in fourth and fifth.