Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#337
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Pierce Brosnan represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 47 years in, and Pierce is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Pierce Brosnan appears in 63 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Pierce. The King of Kings is the clearest case: a film rated 8.3 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, adventure, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Jaume Collet-Serra, Rowan Athale, Chris Columbus and others, Pierce Brosnan helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The King of Kings (2025) as Pontius Pilate (voice) · From Roger Moore with Love (2024) as Self · Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) as Stu
Career snapshot
Ranked #337 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
63
1980–2027
Career length
47 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.3
The King of Kings
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
The King of Kings
Most frequent director
Chris Columbus
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Chris Columbus
Most common genre
Drama
26 titles
Average runtime
1h 42m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.7
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1980s
6.5 average MV
The 1980s are where the work and the material meet. The Fourth Protocol, The Long Good Friday, The Mirror Crack'd — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1980s
6.5
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1980s
6.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Fourth Protocol, The Long Good Friday, The Mirror Crack'd.
Most productive era
2020s
20 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.21 film | 6.66 films | 6.27 films | 6.36 films | 6.56 films |
| Action | 6.31 film | 6.54 films | 6.24 films | 6.46 films | 4.95 films |
| Thriller | 6.53 films | 6.54 films | 6.24 films | 6.09 films | 4.34 films |
| Comedy | — | 6.93 films | 6.34 films | 6.17 films | 6.35 films |
| Crime | 6.72 films | 6.81 film | 6.24 films | 6.05 films | 6.43 films |
| Romance | — | 6.83 films | 6.23 films | 6.26 films | 6.13 films |
| Horror | — | 5.61 film | — | — | 5.61 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as 1st Irishman.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.3 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2027Cliffhanger
The current state of the argument, as Ray Cooper.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
63 of 63 films
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as King Louis XIV
Directed by Sean McNamara
as Liam Hennessy
Directed by Martin Campbell
as James Bond
Directed by Martin Campbell
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Pontius Pilate (voice)
The King of Kings (2025)
Performance score8.3
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Pontius Pilate (voice) gives Pierce Brosnan a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
From Roger Moore with Love (2024)
Performance score8.0
From Roger Moore with Love asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
King Louis XIV
The King's Daughter (2022)
Performance score7.6
The King's Daughter asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. King Louis XIV is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Liam Hennessy
The Foreigner (2017)
Performance score7.6
The Foreigner asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Liam Hennessy is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
Start here. The King of Kings is the clearest statement of what Pierce Brosnan does — accessible, 102 minutes, and rated 8.3 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Pierce at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
GoldenEye (1995)
Keeps the adventure register of The King of Kings but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Foreigner (2017)
Same director as GoldenEye, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
The King's Daughter (2022)
A deliberate change of key after The Foreigner — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
From Roger Moore with Love (2024)
A deliberate change of key after The King's Daughter — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Chris Columbus
Director
3 films together
Notably Mrs. Doubtfire
Roger Donaldson
Director
2 films together
Notably Dante's Peak
Martin Campbell
Director
2 films together
Notably The Foreigner
Jaume Collet-Serra
Director
2 films together
Notably Black Adam
Guy Hamilton
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mirror Crack'd
Barbra Streisand
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mirror Has Two Faces
Tim Burton
Director
1 film together
Notably Mars Attacks!
George T. Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Robinson Crusoe
Roger Spottiswoode
Director
1 film together
Notably Tomorrow Never Dies
John McTiernan
Director
1 film together
Notably The Thomas Crown Affair
Michael Apted
Director
1 film together
Notably The World Is Not Enough
John Boorman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Tailor of Panama
Lee Tamahori
Director
1 film together
Notably Die Another Day
Peter Howitt
Director
1 film together
Notably Laws of Attraction
Brett Ratner
Director
1 film together
Notably After the Sunset
Richard Shepard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Matador
Mike Barker
Director
1 film together
Notably Butterfly on a Wheel
David Von Ancken
Director
1 film together
Notably Seraphim Falls
Allen Coulter
Director
1 film together
Notably Remember Me
Roman Polanski
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ghost Writer
Douglas McGrath
Director
1 film together
Notably I Don't Know How She Does It
Susanne Bier
Director
1 film together
Notably Love Is All You Need
Edgar Wright
Director
1 film together
Notably The World's End
Tom Vaughan
Director
1 film together
Notably Some Kind of Beautiful
John Erick Dowdle
Director
1 film together
Notably No Escape
James McTeigue
Director
1 film together
Notably Survivor
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together
Notably The Only Living Boy in New York
Scott Mann
Director
1 film together
Notably Final Score
David Dobkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
John Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably False Positive
Kay Cannon
Director
1 film together
Notably Cinderella
Renny Harlin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Misfits
Sean McNamara
Director
1 film together
Notably The King's Daughter
Tyler Spindel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Out-Laws
Phillip Noyce
Director
1 film together
Notably Fast Charlie
Michael Cristofer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Great Lillian Hall
Rowan Athale
Director
1 film together
Notably Giant
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Chris Columbus
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Mrs. DoubtfireMartin Campbell
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The ForeignerRoger Donaldson
Director
2 films together · 6.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Dante's PeakJaume Collet-Serra
Director
2 films together · 3.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Black AdamAllen Coulter
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Remember MeMichael Cristofer
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Great Lillian HallSean McNamara
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The King's DaughterJohn Erick Dowdle
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
No EscapeRowan Athale
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GiantEdgar Wright
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The World's EndRoman Polanski
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ghost WriterJohn McTiernan
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Thomas Crown AffairBarbra Streisand
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Mirror Has Two FacesTim Burton
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mars Attacks!David Dobkin
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaDavid Von Ancken
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Seraphim FallsMike Barker
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Butterfly on a WheelRoger Spottiswoode
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tomorrow Never DiesKay Cannon
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CinderellaMarc Webb
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Only Living Boy in New YorkRichard Shepard
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MatadorMichael Apted
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The World Is Not EnoughPhillip Noyce
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fast CharlieBrett Ratner
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
After the SunsetScott Mann
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Final ScoreGuy Hamilton
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Mirror Crack'dTyler Spindel
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Out-LawsSusanne Bier
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Love Is All You NeedLee Tamahori
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Die Another DayJohn Boorman
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Tailor of PanamaGeorge T. Miller
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Robinson CrusoePeter Howitt
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Laws of AttractionJames McTeigue
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SurvivorJohn Lee
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
False PositiveTom Vaughan
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Some Kind of BeautifulRenny Harlin
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MisfitsDouglas McGrath
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I Don't Know How She Does ItSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
8 wins · 2 nominations
1 win · latest 2000
as Actor
1 win · 1 nomination · latest 2016
as Actor
as Actor
1 win · latest 2009
as Actor
1 win · latest 2008
as Actor
1 win · latest 2001
as Actor
1 win · latest 2013
as Actor
1 win · latest 1998
as Actor
1 win
as Actor
No wins yet · 1 nomination
as Actor
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Mirror Crack'd
as Actor Playing Jamie (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Pierce Brosnan has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
47 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
26 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Long Good Friday
as 1st Irishman
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Ghost Writer
as Adam Lang
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The King of Kings
as Pontius Pilate (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Black Adam
as Dr. Fate / Kent Nelson
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
as Grandad / Patrick (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Mars Attacks!
as Donald Kessler
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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