Pierce Brosnan "admires" Daniel Craig for his "magnificent" portrayal of James Bond.

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

The 66-year-old actor played the famous secret agent 007 in 1995's 'GoldenEye', 'Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997), 'The World Is Not Enough' (1999) and 2002's 'Die Another Day', and the star has now said the long-running franchise is not his "circus", but praised Craig for taking up the role for the fifth and final time in the yet-to-be-named blockbuster 'Bond 25'.

He told Esquire: "Not my monkey, not my circus. I must say, I do admire Daniel, as in Craig. I admire him for his work, his Bond movies. He's such a great actor. He's done such a magnificent job."

Pierce made his Hollywood breakout in 1993 with the hit movie, 'Mrs Doubtfire', that featured an all-star cast including Sally Fields and the late Robin Williams - who tragically died in 2014 - and the 'Mamma Mia!' star admitted his death "still hurts" him "deeply".

He said: "His humanity was so far reaching, and joy of people, and love of life, bountiful. Oh, Robin, still, his passing still hurts deeply. I miss him."

'The Son' star recalled the day he was taken by producers to meet Robin for the first time on set in San Francisco, and he was wearing Mrs Doubtfire's head used in the film.

He explained: "And they said, 'Do you want to meet Robin Williams?' I said, 'Yeah, sure.' I went into the makeup trailer and Robin was there. He was sitting at the end of the trailer in his Hawaiian shirt and his big hairy arms, and his hairy legs coming out of his cargo pants. But he had the head of Mrs. Doubtfire.

"He said, 'Pierce. Oh Pierce. Oh, you're so handsome. Oh, look at ya, Pierce. Oh, give us a kiss. Come here, give us a hug.' "

Pierce Brosnan is an Irish actor, film producer, and activist.