"That's it, I've said all I've got to say on the world of James Bond."

"Bond is another lifetime behind me," Brosnan said.

"We went out on a high," Brosnan said, "and I look back affectionately at that time and doing those four movies. But I've said all I gotta say on it."

"They know where to find me if they want me," says Brosnan, regarded as the best 007 since Sean Connery. "I'd love to do another but, if not, I won't be out of work."

"The producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, asked me back when we finished the last Bond film. But I think now there is a sense of paralysis and they're not quite sure how to proceed."

"You know going in that your time will come to bow out, walk off and say goodbye. If that time is now, then it's been a glorious ride.

"But I'll always be James Bond because that is a role you live with for life."

"It's allowed me to participate in causes that are close to my heart and provide for my family in a very fine way," he says.

"Colin Salmon would be a great Bond. Clive Owen is a very fine actor... Hugh Jackman... Gerard Butler... There are men out there and there will be another Bond, whether I do it or not," he says.

"Bond has been in the limelight for so many years he'll carry on."

"The little boys are great," he says. "I'm relishing their company on a day-to-day basis. I'm a lucky man to have it all over again at 50.

"I'm old-fashioned and believe in marriage. I had a great marriage which, sadly, had its own ending and I was lucky enough to find love again.

"Being a father is a huge responsibility, even more so now than it was when I was in my 20s and 30s because then I was so full of myself and trying to be successful.

"Then suddenly you look around and you are successful and that gives you the luxury to spend more time with your children."

"I always thought of myself as a peasant but I created something for myself.

"I came to America 23 years ago, got lucky and landed the role of Steele. The director wanted it to be like an old film so I watched Cary Grant movies and the next thing I know, I'm Mr Sophistication. "

Yes, I like clothes and the good things of life, and I've been blessed with the good fortune to be able to afford some of them.

"But I don't know if it would have happened if I hadn't had James Bond in my life."

Are you reluctant to sign for another Bond?
I haven?t signed for another Bond. My contract is up. Four movies.

Do you have doubts?
I have no doubts. I would love to do another one. In my mind, there was only one left, for me. Be it that we were discussing it and had set sail on negotiations.

Don?t you want to do seven like Connery and Moore?
No, I don't think so.

What would you think of Clive Owen as your successor?
I think Clive is a really fine actor. I think Hugh Jackman?s a very fine actor. There are a number of fellows out there who could do it.

Q: You mentioned that you're trying to get away from the suave, Bond-type roles - what're you looking to do?

Pierce: I would really love to do more drama - on-the-nose drama. This is black comedy, Matador. Then we have another piece, Irish Dreamtime has a piece called Mexicali, which is action/adventure, which I've done, but this is good and the director is good. But drama - just drama.

Q: But you've got one more dance with Bond - is there anything left to do with the character?

Pierce: Well, the dance...we seem to have taken a break at the moment. The producers have reached an impasse, as far as I can tell. They don't know what to do. They don't know how to move on. A sense of paralysis has set in. So, for me it's business as usual. I shall just carry on with creating work for myself. I certainly would love to do a fifth Bond and then bow out, but if this last one is to be the last one, then so be it.

Q: We've discussed before Michael Wilson's timidity to make a Bond movie in the vein of From Russia With Love and I think that's a real problem...

Pierce: It's frustrating, really, because they feel they have to top themselves in a genre which is just spectacle and huge bang for your buck. For me, I think you can have your cake and eat it. You can have real character work and real storylines and a thriller aspect and all the kind of quips and asides and explosions and the women. I love From Russia With Love. It's one of the finest pieces.

Q: So with the next one, would you want to cut back to a more For Your Eyes Only-type model? More simple, less effects-driven?

Pierce: More of a character-driven piece, yes. Certainly more of a character-driven piece and what is going to happen next in the story because now we're just saturated - it's wonderful the spectacle they create. It's fantastic. But I love the last one and where it was going - until we got to Hong Kong and I was into the suit and into the old straitjacket of playing him.

Q: The stuff in the prison at the beginning was great.

Pierce: Yeah, that was like, 'Huh? This is a Bond movie??' But they broke out of it too soon into the formulaic, safe side. They're too scared.

Q: If they changed it, you'd do more than one more?

Pierce: Oh, my contract is up. They can do it or not.

Q: You say there's a paralysis - are they talking to someone else?

Pierce: They say they're not talking to someone else...

Q: But they might not tell you?

Pierce smiles a knowing smile.

Pierce: What a game! 'I thought you were my friend! I thought we were friends...' (mimes taking a knife out of his back) This belongs to you, I think!

Q: So, if they changed it to more like From Russia With Love, would you be more inclined to carry on?

Pierce: I'd be inclined to carry on if it were From Russia With Love or anything. Just, the fifth was there. We started talking about the fifth and so this paralysis that set in is rather surprising.

Q: But they finally got back the rights of Casino Royale, but [Wilson] said he wouldn't dare film any of the story, so he just wants to scrap the novel and use the title.

Pierce: Well, that's ludicrous. It's absolutely sheer lunacy because Casino Royale is somewhat the blueprint for the Bond character anyway. If you go to that book, you find out more about James Bond than in any of the other books. But hey, they're a wonderful family that's done it their own way for many years and they're at a point now where they've suffered a great loss in the passing of their mother. They're an Italian family, an American family and they're in the unique position that no one else in this community called Hollywood stands it - they have full control of this franchise. So, I don't know what's going to happen. I have no idea.