Pierce Brosnan may be better known for his acting, but one gallery director called the artist a “real gentleman” as he explored Auckland’s art scene amid a quiet trip to New Zealand.
The 72-year-old Irishman is believed to be in Aotearoa for a holiday, first being seen indulging in a leisurely lunch with family at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour earlier this week.
According to Gow Langsford Gallery director Anna Jackson, the James Bond megastar had pre-arranged a visit to Auckland Art Gallery on Kitchener St yesterday before touring her gallery’s Onehunga space with his wife, American journalist Keely Shaye Smith.
Jackson told the Herald Brosnan is “genuinely engaged with the visual arts”, having left school at 16 to study painting in London before he pursued his acting career.
With experience in commercial illustration and a private studio in his Malibu home, Brosnan held a debut solo exhibition, So Many Dreams, in 2023 to showcase some of his works over 36 years.
“[Pierce] spent time with our current exhibition, Brett Graham’s Doorway to Night, and also enjoyed viewing a broader selection of works by other artists across the gallery," Jackson said.
“He was very generous with the staff and artists he met - a real gentleman and funny.”
Jackson described the OBE holder as “thoughtful and genuinely curious” during his tour.
“He spent time with the work and asked considered questions.
“It was a pleasure to host him.”
Jackson understood Brosnan was only visiting New Zealand for a short time, with a brief stay in Auckland before travelling to other parts of the country.
She wouldn’t disclose whether he’d made any specific purchases or requests out of respect for the privacy of “all visitors and collectors”.
Auckland Art Gallery shared further details of Brosnan’s visit to social media, picturing the actor surveying portraits and meeting with curators and artists.
“Along with his wife Keely and friends, [Brosnan] stopped by the gallery today, enjoying a guided tour of Taimoana | Coastlines: Art in Aotearoa and Ngā Taonga Tūturu: Treasured Māori Portraits with curators Nathan Pōhio and Jane Davidson Ladd,“ the gallery said.
Other celebrity sightings are cropping up across Auckland as filming for the sequel to A Minecraft Movie (2025) gets underway, with locals sharing details of some of their encounters online.
Among the stars reviving their roles in the New Zealand-shot sequel are White Lotus actress Jennifer Coolidge, and Jason Momoa, whose company Āriki Group – jointly owned with Taika Waititi and actor Cliff Curtis – recently acquired long-running Auckland film studio Studio West.
Kirsten Dunst has also been cast in a new role and is expected to be filming in New Zealand, six years after shooting Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog here at the height of Covid-19.
Coolidge recently made a surprise visit to vintage clothing store Dead Man Vintage, on the corner of Ponsonby Rd and Karangahape Rd, with staff getting photos with the actress outside and in-store.
“Jennifer Coolidge loves Vintage and we love her right back,” the store wrote on social media yesterday.
“Thanks for coming in and hanging out, Jennifer!”
Another woman claimed to have run into Coolidge on Saturday night while out for dinner at an unspecified Herne Bay restaurant.
“We were right next to each other but [I was] too shy to ask for a pic,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Nice they feel they can come to NZ and not be disturbed too much.”
Separately, one couple ran into Black on Sunday during a stroll through central Auckland.
The 52-year-old was dressed in a tie-dye shirt and shorts, wearing a pounamu necklace and over-ear headphones.
Footage taken by the couple shows Black walking alongside them as he sings into their phone, while another photo captured them shaking hands with the actor before parting ways.
Production on the Minecraft sequel is expected to take several months, with the film’s theatre release slated for July 23, 2027.
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