The 55-year-old actor begun a completely new generation of 007, and was successful at promoting films like GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

"I thought I'd do a fifth Bond. I wanted to do a fifth Bond," he commented. "But I got a call from my agents saying the producers had changed their minds, which is their prerogative, but it was very disappointing and I was in shock for about 24 hours. It's shocking to be told that you're too old, that you're past your sell-by date. But you know, you have to let these things go," he added with a smile.

He particularly expressed how much he would have liked to star the Casino Royale movie, which was finally done by Daniel Craig.

"Casino Royale formed the blueprint of Bond's character," says Pierce. "It's the one where Fleming really painted in the details of what Bond was about, so I was disappointed that it didn't happen, but you know, you win some, you lose some."