Pierce Brosnan hits back as actor defends his contentious Irish accent in Mobland after critics claimed it was ‘all over the place and a huge distraction’

Pierce Brosnan has defended his Irish accent in a new Amazon Prime drama after critics claimed it was ‘all over the place’ – despite the actor being born and raised in Ireland.

The veteran star takes a lead role in director Guy Ritchie’s Mobland, an ambitious contemporary crime drama based around the fictional Harrigan family and their influence on London’s criminal underworld. 

The show finds Brosnan, 72, reunited with Dame Helen Mirren, some forty-six years after they both starred in John Mackenzie’s iconic 1979 gangster film The Long Good Friday. 

But the veteran stars have found themselves at the heart of a contentious debate regarding the believability of their affected Irish accents in the new show – with Brosnan’s in particular singled out for criticism.

In their review of the show, The Irish Independent unfavourabaly dismissed it as ‘all over the place and a huge distraction.’   

From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail’s new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.

Speaking to the latest issue of Radio Times, the actor – who was born in Drogheda, County Louth – insisted his role as family patriarch Conrad Harrigan demanded a broader Irish accent than his own.

‘My own accent is very soft,’ he explained. ‘Conrad’s accent is a million miles away from me.’ 

While the affected accent used by Conrad – who hails from Kerry on Ireland’s south-west coast – has divided viewers, he admits it was inspired by a very real person, suggested by his dialect coach. 

‘I told him that I needed a Kerry accent,’ he said. ‘so he gave me the name of a man and I Googled the guy and that was it. It was a Kerry accent. 

‘And so, I just gave it full tilt.’

His role as the “brutish, cunning, charming and dangerous” Conrad is in stark contrast to Brosnan’s past endeavours as secret agent James Bond – a character he played across four blockbuster films from 1995 to 2002.  

But the actor admits he enjoys the freedom that comes with playing the villain for a change, adding: ‘I like him. I love him. I enjoy him. I mean, I don’t want to be that person – he’s a psychopath. 

‘Yes, there are no holds barred. You own the stage, you have wings to fly and be anything you wish.’

Brosnan is working with celebrated director Ritchie for the first time in Mobland, after admiring a canon of work that has taken the filmmaker from low-budget beginnings with Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels to big-budget Hollywood reinterpretations of Sherlock Holmes. 

‘I have great admiration for Guy Ritchie’s work and the style that he has created for himself,’ he said. 

‘The landscape of film-making that he has embroidered over the years is wildly entertaining. 

‘And this family [the Harrigans] is so mangled and warped – it’s twisted, incestuous and dangerous.’ 

And reuniting with old friend Mirren – who also stars alongside him in forthcoming film The Thursday Murder Club – is an added bonus. 

Brosnan was 25-years old when he made his screen debut as an unnamed IRA assassin alongside the more established actress in The Long Good Friday. 

While Brosnan had no lines and didn’t share a single scene with Mirren, his character made a significant contribution to the film’s memorable final scene as London gangster Harold Shand, played by the late Bob Hoskins, is whisked away at gunpoint.  

‘It still holds up as a British gangster movie,’ said Brosnan affectionately. 

‘And now, all these years later, Helen and I are working together again.’ 

The latest issue of Radio Times is out now.