Pierce Brosnan has responded to comments about his accent following his role in the hit crime drama MobLand, which also stars Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Paul Considine. Earlier this year, the James Bond icon returned to screens as mobster kingpin Conrad Harrigan in the gritty drama.

Despite hailing from Ireland, Brosnan faced criticism for his Irish accent in the drama in which he admitted to going “full tilt” with it. When episodes of the star-studded drama first dropped, many viewers took to social media to react to his role, with others even deeming his new inflection as “offensive.” As another took to X and claimed: “Brosnan’s accent almost makes MobLand unwatchable.”

As one exclaimed: “Brosnan has to be the only person born and raised in Ireland that can’t pull off an Irish accent!”

The Drogheda-native said: “My own accent is very soft, Conrad’s accent is a million miles away from me.”

Shedding light on his inspiration for the accent, Pierce explained that it was taken from someone suggested by his dialect coach.

The actor explained: “I told him that I needed a Kerry accent, 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,” he added to Radio Times.

Pierce was born in Drogheda, County Louth, before relocating to Navan, County Meath, where he lived for over a decade. He then swapped Navan for Scotland with his mother and stepfather, until they eventually settled in London.

The Hollywood icon previously spoke out about his initial hesitation to use his own accent, which he claimed has “dissipated.”

Brosnan told Today FM that he aired his concern to MobLand director Guy Ritchie who told him “not to worry about it.”

“Last summer I spoke to Guy for the first time about it and having read the five episodes, he said not to worry about it.

“[He said] ‘We’ll just do it 15 minutes on the day, clear your mind, we’ll sort it out, don’t worry about it.’”