Pierce Brosnan Taped His Finger to a Gun on Day One as Bond—And Delivered a Golden Performance Anyway
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
When Pierce Brosnan stepped into the iconic role of James Bond for the 1995 film GoldenEye, he did so with flair, style—and a Band-Aid. What many fans don’t know is that his first day on set was less shaken or stirred, and more strapped and taped, thanks to a still-healing hand injury that nearly derailed a key scene.
Just hours before filming began, Brosnan had finally removed a splint he’d worn for 12 weeks following tendon surgery on his hand. The injury, sustained at home, had left his mobility limited. Yet, Hollywood waits for no one. On day one, Brosnan was already holding Bond’s trademark pistol in a tense scene opposite Robbie Coltrane’s Valentin Zukovsky.
But there was a problem: his pinkie wouldn’t cooperate.
“My finger just went ‘toot’—like this,” Brosnan said with a laugh during an April 2025 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He demonstrated the involuntary twitch that saw his pinkie stick straight out every time he gripped the gun—a sight not exactly becoming of MI6’s smoothest operative.
The moment threatened to turn Bond into a punchline. But Brosnan, ever the quick thinker, devised a low-tech, high-ingenuity fix: he taped the rogue finger to the gun using a Band-Aid. “I just stuck it down,” he recalled. “And we carried on.”
The scene in question was layered with complexity. Alongside Coltrane’s steely-eyed gangster was Minnie Driver in a brief but unforgettable cameo, belting out “Stand by Your Man” in a thick Russian accent. With so many moving parts—and characters—it was crucial the scene went off without a hitch. Brosnan’s simple solution meant the shoot continued smoothly, and what could’ve been a delay turned into a behind-the-scenes gem of determination.
Director Martin Campbell, who helmed GoldenEye, later guided the franchise into its Daniel Craig era with Casino Royale. But it was Brosnan who first redefined Bond for the post-Cold War world—and did so on day one with a compromised hand and duct-tape-level resourcefulness.
The anecdote, reported by People, Entertainment Weekly, and Screen Rant, has since become part of Brosnan’s Bond legacy—a reminder that even cinematic legends start with very human hurdles.
GoldenEye not only rebooted the Bond franchise with commercial and critical success—it cemented Brosnan as 007 in the hearts of a new generation. He would go on to headline three more Bond films, all while embodying charm, grit, and, apparently, on-the-fly medical improvisation.
In an era of multimillion-dollar effects and elaborate set pieces, it’s comforting to know that sometimes, a Band-Aid is all it takes to keep the show going.
