Pierce Brosnan's prosthetics were so believable in his latest hit Giant that his own co-stars failed to register they were working with the James Bond legend when they first arrived on set.
The 72-year-old actor stars in the boxing biopic that tells the tumultuous story of 'Prince' Naseem Hamed's career as he conquered rings in Britain and found fame in America. Pierce plays Irishman Brendan Ingle, Naz's trainer and manager, who died in 2018, while The Crown's Amir El-Masry tackles the role of the famous British boxer.
For his part, the James Bond icon was required to sit in the makeup chair for hours on end as a bald cap and prosthetic nose were applied to make The Thursday Murder Club star appear older and more like the iconic sporting figure.
The transformation was so dramatic that his own co-stars struggled to recognise the actor when they arrived on set. At the film's UK gala screening at Piccadilly Circus' Picturehouse Central in London, HELLO! spoke to the cast about meeting the Hollywood legend.
© Sam TalorOlivia Barrowclough, who played journalist Vicki Quinn in the film, told us: "A lot of my scenes are with him when he's wearing all these prosthetics to make him look older. We were filming the end of the film before the start and he really didn't look like himself.
"There was one day where we filmed the start of the film where he looks more like he does in real life, and we were running quite behind, so I didn't get to see him before we were shooting. They were like, 'Just walk over there, say your line and do your thing'. "
She continued: "I walked over and I was like, 'Oh my god, that's Pierce Brosnan!' That was a surreal moment, but he's really nice and really great to work with."
A mentor to rising stars of all ages
Elsewhere on the carpet, while Pierce posed for pictures, the rest of the Giant cast gushed over his kind nature and encouraging attitude on set. From the youngest budding star to seasoned actors, there wasn't a bad word said about the A-lister.
Stopping for a chat, Arian Nik, who portrayed the boxer's feisty brother Riath Hamed, revealed to us how he approached his tense scenes with Pierce. The pair sparred numerous times on screen as their individual relationships with Naz caused conflict for one another.
He said: "I love improvising on set so I broached improvising with him pre-scene and post-scene and he just met me exactly where I was. He was so reassuring, he boosted me the whole time, he was really impressed by the work I was doing - and for me, to receive that from someone like him, was mind-blowing.
"He's a real gentleman and to have worked with him, and screamed at him and laughed at him, mocked him and tickled him in the film, metaphorically speaking, not physically, was really surreal!"
© Getty ImagesThroughout the entire film, Brendan's real-life commitment to his community in Sheffield was highlighted and championed via Pierce's scenes, especially his uplifting of young talent. Stepping into the shoes of a young Naz aged 7 and 12, brothers Ghaith and Ali Saleh kicked off their acting career in a big way.
Spending plenty of time in the company of Pierce, they shared a sweet behind-the-scenes moment and revealed what it was really like to work with him.
"He inspired us, motivated us, he was like our guidance. It was an honour to work with him and he always encouraged us and gave us advice. It was a pleasure to work with him and I hope we will again!," they explained.
The siblings continued: "Behind the scenes, when you're just talking to the actual Pierce, getting to know him, that's one of our favourite bits. I remember we were outside the trailer and he was just telling us a nice, inspirational story. We took a walk and he started telling us a story - it was loads of fun!"
What did the film's 'biggest critic' make of Pierce's performance?
Arriving at the London venue to watch the film with the rest of the cast, Brendan's actual son, boxing coach Dominic Ingle, 57, weighed in on Pierce's portrayal of his dad and gave him the family's seal of approval.
He said: "He played a tremendous part, he captured the essence of Brendan Ingle, my dad and 15 to 20 minutes into the film I was thinking, 'I'm just watching my dad on a video here'. That's how much he wrapped me into it.
"He got his mannerisms, he's obviously studied a lot of videos of Brendan, he got it down to a tee - so I don't think there could have been a better person to play my dad, apart from Pierce."
In the biopic, that was directed by Rowan Athale and executively produced by Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, Pierce adopted an inner-city Dublin accent to match that of Brendan's, who kept his strong twang despite moving to Sheffield when he was 18 years old.
Previously criticised for his Irish intonations as Conrad Harrigan in crime drama MobLand, who did the actor fare this time around? Quite perfectly, according to Dominic.
He laughed as he told us: "His accent was good, he's Irish anyway, but when my dad used to go back to Ireland he spoke with an English twang so Pierce has got the accent perfect. That's how he used to talk, his phrasing, he used to pause and think before he said things.
"I would've been the biggest critic if he hadn't done it right but I came away from that film thinking, 'There could not have been a better film made of this'."
