IT’S been over 40 years since Pierce Brosnan first burst onto our screens and at 73, he’s still the ultimate heartthrob enjoying success after success.
In the week that saw the trailer release for the second series of his critically acclaimed show Mobland, it also emerged his 2010 ‘flop’ Percy Jackson and the Olympians, was riding high in Netflix’s top ten. But there remains a thorn in his side that repeatedly rears its ugly head and threatens to disrupt his peace – and most importantly his marriage.
Pierce Brosnan will mark his 25th anniversary with Keely Shaye Smith next month Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
The former TV journalist’s weight has cruelly been commented upon by online trolls for many years Credit: BackGrid
This week, Pierce and his beloved wife TV journalist Keely Shaye Smith, 62, once again found themselves hitting headlines after a barrage of vile comments regarding Keely’s appearance.
“Diet Another Day”, “This is why you avoid marriage” and “She’s had plenty of lunches” – is just a glimpse at the cruel diatribe directed towards Keely after the pair were pictured on a Beverly Hills date night.
Vile trolling is nothing new for the pair, but insiders tells us it still touches a nerve.
A pal close to the couple explained: “Pierce gets very upset with the trolling Keely endures and that’s why you’ll never see them doing any kind of set up pictures.
“He hates that side of fame and he’s fiercely protective of her. He thinks she’s absolutely stunning and beautiful and loves her the way she is.
“He gets very protective. They choose not to read it and it’s a great way to be.”
The James Bond actor famously calls her his “North Star”, and it’s no surprise – she has been the bedrock through his turbulent decades of heartache.
She nursed Pierce through the “helpless state of…confusion and anger” after the death of his first wife Cassandra Harris from ovarian cancer in 1991, after helplessly watching “her life eaten away bit by bit by this insidious disease”.
And again, while relieving the exact nightmare 22 years later when his adopted daughter Charlotte, 41, succumbed to the same disease and then as he endured the struggles of “very lost” stepson Chris, who had long battled cocaine and heroin addiction.
Our insider added: “They are still very much in love. He adores her. They’ve got an amazing relationship.
“It really is a true love affair and she was there picking up the pieces. He’s had a turbulent time losing his first wife to cancer before he met her and all through the ups and downs with their kids. Chris has had a lot of trouble.
“Keely’s been there and she’s his rock. So he gets really upset if there’s any bad trolling on her weight because to him she’s perfect and he adores her and she’s there.
Keely looked stunning in a white summer dress and lemon cardigan as she stepped out with Pierce in LA this week Credit: BackGrid
Silver fox Pierce was all smiles as the loved-up pair enjoyed a date night in Beverly Hills Credit: BackGrid
“He loves her body, loves her mind and her kindness. Above all she’s one of the kindest, most supportive people and allows him to do all his acting, going away on locations and doing all everything he does. She’s there supporting.”
Equally, Pierce has staunchly defended Keely amid an unending flurry of remarks about her curves and even against celebrity pals who offered to pay for weight loss surgery.
The ex-007 star previously stated: “I strongly love every curve of her body. She is the most beautiful woman in my eyes. And also because she had our five children.
“In the past, I truly loved her for her person, not only for her beauty, and now I’m loving her even more that she is my children’s mother.
The James Bond star was ‘bowled over’ by the beauty of Cassandra Harris when they first met Credit: Getty – Contributor
Pierce with son Sean, nine, and step-children, Charlotte and Chris a year after their mother’s death Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
“And I am very proud of her, and I always seek to be worthy of her love.”
The jibes, which date back to the early 2000s, have continued throughout the decades, with Keely having to respond to remarks about her size.
“I never shy away from my curves. I never hide in baggy clothing,” she told Vogue, to which Pierce responded: “I love my wife’s curves.”
The Irish actor remains madly in love, professing he still “fancies the pants” off Keely and stills goes “weak at the knees”, whenever she looks at him.
“I love her vitality, her passion,” he said, while crediting her as being the source of “strength I wouldn’t be able to live without” through the multiple tragedies in his life.
Previously Pierce has battled depression, telling Esquire: “I don’t look at the cup as half full, believe me. The dark, melancholy Irish dog sits beside me from time to time.”
Initially that stemmed from the death of his first wife Cassandra, known as Cassie, whom he first met aged 24 while she was married to the brother of Harry Potter actor Richard Harris, Dermot.
Pierce recalled being “bowled over by the beauty” of the actress, five years his senior, and he married her two years after she got divorced in 1978.
Five years later, Cassie gave birth to their son and three years after that, Pierce adopted her two children, Charlotte and Chris, then 15 and 14.
He described them having “clicked as a family”, adding: “To begin with I was Pierce, then I was Daddy Pierce, and then I just became Dad. Charlotte and Chris have just been amazing in my life.”
But in 1987, their happy marriage was rocked when Cassie was diagnosed with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer – just a year after her kids’ biological dad Dermot suffered a fatal heart attack, aged 43.
She passed away four years later, in what Pierce called “the longest night of my life” as he lay beside her in hospital.
After her 1991 death, Pierce described her being “forever embedded in every fibre of my being” and said: “She has made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am.”
Initially, he believed he would never find love again, until meeting Keely at a Mexican bar in 1994, while she was working as a TV journalist and due to interview his co-star.
She was wooed by the “mischievous sparkle in his eyes” and Pierce was enamoured by her beauty and tenderness while he battled through grief as a widower and father-of-three.
He said: “Keely has always been kind and compassionate and encouraged me to mourn Cassie. I think of her all the time. I suppose Keely is my North Star, always looking out for me.”
The memory of Cassie and her fight against cancer was “never forgotten” by Pierce, but through his new love he found happiness, contentment and a rock.
He added: “I found a great woman in Keely Shaye. Not if I searched a million times over would I find one as good.”
In spite of that, rumours of romance would swirl during Pierce’s years as 007, whenever pictured on the arm of a glamorous Bond Girl, on top of allegations of an affair in 1995, which he strongly refuted.
A lady, named Claire, from Melbourne, Australia, claimed their fling lasted the “duration of the film” they worked on, believed to be mockumentary The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson.
An insider told Woman’s Day: “Pierce Brosnan is furious about this. He’s ferocious when it comes to shielding Keely from the endless stream of trolls and gossip.”
The couple tied the knot in a £1.5million wedding, in County Mayo, Ireland, in 2001 and went on to have two children, Dylan and Paris, now 29 and 25.
Stepson Chris, pictured in 2019, was ‘cut off’ by Pierce due to his addiction struggles Credit: BackGrid
The actor credits Keely as his ‘North Star’ – a source of strength during his personal struggles Credit: Instagram
Pierce described Keely as “a strength I wouldn’t be able to live without”, something that came to the fore while trying to help his stepson Chris during his addiction battle.
He recalled him having “tested everybody in this family” but “none more so than himself” while using cocaine and heroin. Once he fell into a coma and nearly died after an overdose.
In a 2005 Playboy interview, while revealing his “painful” decision to cut his stepson off, Pierce said: “Christopher is still very lost. Shockingly so. I know where he is, but he’s having a hard life.
“It’s painful because you shut down. You never completely cut them off, but I have cut Christopher off. I had to say, ‘Go. Get busy living, or get busy dying’. He has my prayers.”
Their estrangement would last for many years. It’s believed they reunited in 2022, after Pierce shared a gushing Father’s Day post to Chris and his other children thanking them “deeply for your love” and expressing “my love forever to you”.
More heartache followed in June 2013, when his stepdaughter Charlotte died from ovarian cancer, 22 years after her mother’s passing.
A mum-of-two, she married partner Alex Smith just days before her death and left behind children Sophie and Lucas, then 15 and 10.
In a statement, Pierce wrote: “Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity.
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl. We pray for her and that the cure for this wretched disease will be close at hand soon.”
Keely nurtured him during those dark days, when Pierce admitted the “sorrow becomes an indelible part of your psyche” having lost two beloved women in his life to cancer.
The couple, who live a quiet life away from the spotlight, are prolific when it comes to sharing their love for one another online.
They post streams of pictures with adoration-filled captions on anniversaries, including in 2018, when Pierce wrote: “Thank you for the love, my love of these past 25 years onwards.”
Four years later, on their 21st wedding anniversary, he leapt to Keely’s defence when her weight was criticised online in a viral Facebook post, showing how her appearance had changed over the years.
In the now-deleted post, Pierce insisted “I strongly love every curve of her body” and called her “the most beautiful woman in my eyes”.
The Bond actor wed Keely in 2001 in a lavish £1.5m ceremony in County Mayo, Ireland Credit: Getty – Contributor
Pierce states that he ‘strongly loves’ his wife’s every curve Credit: Reuters
Pierce doubled down on his love-filled words for her last year while promoting MobLand, which returns for season two in September, amid a late career renaissance.
He told Fox News: “She still makes my heart sing and she still makes my world turn.”
After years struggling to transition away from the British secret agent with ‘a licence to kill’, he’s enjoyed hits including The Thursday Murder Club, Mamma Mia, Black Adam, Giant and is due to front the big-budget reboot of 1993 survival classic Cliffhanger later this year.
Yet Pierce is fully aware that without the support, love and freedom afforded to him by his loving wife Keely, it would not be possible.
He said: “She allows me to go out into the world and create what I do as an actor, and that takes strength and stamina. We just enjoy each other’s company.”
