Brosnan's family moved from his native Ireland to London. His father abandoned him and his mom before his first birthday. Brosnan lived with his grandparents up to the age of eleven, where he later reunited in London with his mother. Brosnan left school at fifteen and joined The Drama Centre of London for three years. His first major performance came on the London stage in Filumena.
 

Brosnan's first breakthrough came in 1981 with his performance in the mini-series The Manions of America. He was later offered the lead in a detective drama called Remington Steele. Brosnan was very popular with the viewers of Remington Steele and many people began viewing him as the next Bond.

The excitement of Remington Steele soon started to fade after its fourth season. NBC cancelled the series just as the producers of James Bond offered him a multi-million dollar contract. Realizing that they just canceled a show that held the new James Bond, NBC exercised its sixty-day recall option to keep the show running. This allowed Timothy Dalton to step up as the next Bond and Brosnan returned to TV.

For the next couple of years, Brosnan played the new boyfriend in Mrs. Doubtfire and Love Affair until he received the call to play James Bond. Brosnan's Goldeneye brought appeal back to the Bond franchise after the disappointing films by Timothy Dalton.

Brosnanís portrayal of Bond in his first film was greeted by critics with a nearly unanimous comment: 'Heís the best Bond since Sean Connery.' 'His interpretation is pure cinema: impossible good looks, utterly unflappable demeanor, and a witty line for any occasion.' With this, he defined Bond for a generation of fans too young to have seen Connery play the part. The film went on to gross over $350 million globally. The charm that captivated audiences world wide got him signed for two more films; Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. A new Bond film is set for release in the fall of 2002. 

Brosnan has been active in other films while playing 007. Between his three Bond films, Brosnan has starred in almost a dozen productions, including Danteís Peak, The Mirror Has Two Faces, and a very Bond-like remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.