Ghost Writer‘s Pierce Brosnan never “nailed” James Bond.

The 56-year-old actor, who played the British spy in four installments of the movie franchise, feels his performances suffered because he couldn’t forget how previous actors had portrayed 007. Pierce - who took over the role from Timothy Dalton - explained:

“It was one of those things I always struggled with. I never felt that I really nailed it. There was always a hint of Sean Connery and Roger Moore that was so indelible in my own mind.”

The Hollywood star also says he knew that the script for Tomorrow Never Dies - his second outing as Bond - was not as good as many had hoped it would be: “When I did Tomorrow Never Dies I knew the movie wasn’t up to speed, it wasn’t as good as Goldeneye.”

However, he is still glad he had the opportunity to play the iconic movie character.

He told Venice magazine, “I’m proud to have played 007. It’s a small group of men, a prestigious group to be in the company of.”

Pierce recently claimed he had never seen his successor Daniel Craig portray Bond in movies Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace. He said, “I haven’t seen Daniel in the role. I tried watching it on an airplane. I thought 37,000 feet was a good distance to watch it from and it broke down right at the beginning. The attendant came and changed it and it broke down a second time, so I figured, ‘OK. The Gods must be saying something…’ So I never went near it! I just thought, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’”