Pierce Brosnan admits he 'worried' about MobLand accent – and Guy Ritchie urged him to go "more Irish"
Pierce Brosnan has spoken more about the criticism of his accent in MobLand.
MobLand has undoubtedly been a hit, with the Guy Ritchie series breaking Paramount+ records and thrilling audiences, but Pierce Brosnan's accent has proven a lightning rod for criticism.
The former James Bond star plays Conrad Harrigan, the much-feared head of an Irish crime family, and many viewers were less than impressed by Brosnan's voice in the series – given he hails from County Louth in Ireland himself.
Last month, Brosnan addressed the flak he'd been receiving and revealed in an exclusive interview with the Radio Times that the accent he used for the role was "a million miles away from me", before adding that he gave the Kerry accent "full tilt".
Now, the 72-year-old has weighed in on the topic again – admitting that he was "worried" about it and was urged by Ritchie to go "more Irish".
"I have enormous fun with Conrad," he told Variety. "He found me at the right time in life. Last summer, [director] Guy Ritchie sent me five episodes. I sat here on the Lanai looking at the chickens and I read them.
"I love Guy Ritchie’s work. It’s just so exhilarating to see his films. I jumped in and said yes. On that particular day of saying yes, I started talking about the character of Conrad with him. I know he has an Irish family.
"He said, ‘Listen, don’t worry about it. Put it out of your mind. We’ll sort it out on the day in 15 minutes.’ I said, ‘I just want to clarify, Guy. Fifteen minutes, put it out of my mind on the day, I can do that.’ Of course, I didn’t do that. Then you sit back and you worry and you prepare."
Brosnan added: "Literally on the day, five weeks later, I was with Guy and he said, ‘Go more Irish. More Irish.’ It was a scene with Tom [Hardy].
"It was our first scene together, a three-page scene. It is your first day and the nerves and the excitement is charging through your veins.
"My Irish accent is such a soft, soft brogue. And I wanted a Kerry accent. My old man, Tom Brosnan, came from Kerry — I didn’t know the fella.
"I spoke to my dialect coach, Brendan Gunn, and I said, ‘Give me a Kerry accent.’ And he did. He showed me the work of this Irish politician, and more or less in the space of 20 minutes, I just dove in with this kind of rather biting, crazy Kerry accent like some pig farmer."
Brosnan's co-star Helen Mirren, who plays his wife Maeve in MobLand, has jumped to his defence as well.
She said: "Brilliantly, I have to say. A pig farmer who’s actually spent a lot of time in London.
"There is a bit of London in there, too. There is a big community in London of Irish people and a lot of very specific Irish pubs and Irish traditions in London."
MobLand is available to stream in full on Paramount+.
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