Pierce Brosnan regrets turning his back on the theatre after landing his role as James Bond

Brosnan told The Guardian newspaper: "[My acting teacher Christopher Fettes] wanted me doing obscure 19th-century plays, but my dream was always movies ...

"I was impressed that Daniel had the bottle to go back out there. I thought: 'Why the heck didn't I?' You have to really want it, and I didn't."

He added: "It's essential to be creative outside of Bond."

Craig - who took over the role of Bond from Brosnan - continued working in theatre during his breaks from making the 007 movies taking on roles on Broadway including star turns in productions of A Steady Rain in 2009, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 2013 and an off-Broadway version of Othello in 2016.

After releasing his final Bond movie - No Time To Die - in 2021 Craig then went back to the stage for another Shakespearean role playing the lead in a production of Macbeth in 2022.

Brosnan's first major acting role after leaving drama school was in the London premiere of Tennessee Williams' The Red Devil Battery Sign in 1977 after initially being hired as an understudy and then promoted to the main cast by the playwright himself - and the actor reveals Williams sent him a special message after opening night.

He told the Guardian: "On opening night, he sent me a telegram: 'Thank God for you, my dear boy. Love, Tennessee Williams'."

He added of the famed writer: "I remember finishing the show one night and bumping into Tennessee.

"He couldn't find his way out of the theatre, so he held my arm and I walked him to his driver ...

"He liked a tipple. You would go to his house at night and everyone would be at his feet while he regaled us with these lyrical stories ... None of which I can recall because I was tippling, too."