Pierce Brosnan says he painted ‘with his hands’ to handle late wife’s ovarian cancer diagnosis

‘Carrying the weight and pain and the fear of that illness, I took out the paints,’ actor recalled

Pierce Brosnan has admitted that painting with his hands helped him to handle his late wife’s ovarian cancer.

The James Bond star was married to Australian actor Cassandra Harris from 1980 to her death in 1991, aged 43. The pair had one son, Sean, together.

In a new interview, Brosnan said that he had long been interested in art, with the pages of his script often covered in “repetitions of symbols, self-portraits. Emblems of some Celtic past”.

His first show will open at Seasons LA, a gallery in Los Angeles, next spring.

Brosnan told GQ that one of the works on display will show Harris “in her second year of ovarian cancer… dealing with that disease”.

“Carrying the weight and pain and the fear of that illness, I took out the paints,” he explained. “And started painting. With my fingers. With my hands, actually.”

“That’s how we start [the exhibition] – heavy. But beautiful, beautiful.”

Painting, Brosnan said, “assuages the kind of solitary life that you lead as an actor making films – sitting in trailers, sitting in parking lots, sitting in fields. Up a mountain, down a mountain. Waiting in the wings. So I create studios wherever I go.”

Of painting alongside his son Paris, who he shares with his wife Keely Shaye Smith, the Mamma Mia! star explained: “He just devours these canvases. It just fills me with the greatest pride, fatherly pride, to be painting alongside him, just to be quiet in the garage or wherever we’ve painted. It’s a really beautiful experience.”

Paris said of his own father: “He’s, like, evolving into a legit artist and taking it to the top.”