Pierce Brosnan: Our New VBF

We need to talk about Pierce Brosnan. More specifically, we need to talk about Pierce Brosnan's Instagram account. As one of the biggest heartthrobs from the 90s as James Bond, the 65-year-old actor has found a second lease of life online, posting photos of his life accompanied with captions celebrating his wife, Keely Shaye Smith, his children, grandchildren, beloved pets, friends and co-workers. He may no longer be 007 but Brosnan is most definitely your new Man Crush, from Sunday right through to Monday.

When we pick someone out as our VBF, it’s mostly based on assumptions. We assume that they’re nice, we assume that they’re fun and we blindly assume that they will tolerate us in their lives, pestering them for attention and affection but Brosnan . . . Well, Brosnan is different. He’s a man who exudes love and warmth. With that dashing smile and an ever-present twinkle in his eye, without asking his publicist for confirmation, we know that, with him, adventure is never faraway and that’s why he’s this week’s VBF.

Online activity

The former Bond star's online activity first gained minor traction on Twitter a couple of years ago. Without having much movie work to promote, he seemed to simply enjoy letting us in on his life and connecting directly with us. The photo that won me over in the first place was one taken when he was just 29 years old. The caption read: "Just got into LA town, living up in the Hollywood hills back in 82 . . . first season of 'Remington Steele' looked like I was gonna stay so I brought my dog over, her name was Albert! The coyotes ran her off the mountain one night into a neighbour's yard, a 20ft drop and that was it." That caption and that photo of the young Navan boy who did good has it all. Hollywood glamour, endearing love between a man and his best friend, tragedy and humour. iti.ms/2NGe13C

Mamma Mia

This summer, the Great Summer of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Brosnan's Instagram account had a second whoosh of life, a flurry of activity, from a man who appears to be having more fun than ever before. As The Irish Times's Donald Clarke said in his review of the blockbuster musical, "No musical staffed by actors who sing like suffering badgers had any right to be so much fun" and he's right.

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Brosnan returned to his role as Sam Carmichael, the tone deaf architect and one of the three possible fathers to Sophie Sheridan, played by Amanda Seyfried. Appearing from the start of the movie and residing in the Croation island Vis (pretending to be the Greek island of Skopelos) for the duration of filming, there's an air that Brosnan perhaps put the rest of his life on hold to be in the sequel, while the other two dads, played by Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård, make their grand arrival much later in the movie, tending to other projects.

Documenting his time on set and capturing the thrill of the red carpet as the movie premiered this July, Brosnan has developed a real knack for including us on his journey. Although not approved by any medical board, if you are having a low day, Pierce Brosnan’s Instagram account is a surefire way to lift that dark cloud.

While we wish that Brosnan's acting career continues on, we hope that he never finds the need to log off. And if the gods are good, hopefully Mamma Mia turns into some sort of Fast and Furious movie franchise that never stops giving and Brosnan, the proud man that he is, is there to give us the cheery insights we need.