Interview: Pierce Brosnan Discusses FALSE POSITIVE and Playing Morally Ambiguous Characters

Arriving on Hulu later this week is False Positive, the pregnancy horror thriller from director John Lee. The film stars Ilana Glazer, Justin Theroux, and Pierce Brosnan and follows a young couple who enlists the help of a famed fertility doctor to help them make their dreams of starting a family come true, unaware of the nightmares that await them in the future.

Recently, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak very briefly with Pierce Brosnan about his involvement in False Positive, where he discussed his character and why he enjoys playing more morally ambiguous characters like he does in this film.

Check out our quick interview with Brosnan below and be sure to keep an eye out for more on False Positive later this week right here on Daily Dead.

So great to speak with you today, Pierce. The subject matter in False Positive is something that was very close to my own heart and the film really stuck with me. And I think without giving away too much, definitely your character, Dr. Hindle, in this movie is quite a very morally complex character, and I very much appreciated your performance here.

Pierce Brosnan: Wow. Thank you, Heather. Well, I enjoyed playing Dr. Hindle in False Positive, and in the company of Ilana Glazer and John Lee, the director. I kind of got the joke, I knew why I was being employed, and it was wonderful to play this charming, urbane, warm, James Mason type man, who you want to trust, and who this young woman puts her faith and trust in. And then the real horrors of this malignant narcissist, who, they do exist, these fertility doctors, men who have really taken gross advantage of women's lives and consequently created havoc within their lives. I couldn't quite wrap my head around that, that so many of them had gone on trial and so many had abused their power, the medical profession. There are a greater number of fertility doctors, men and women, who do bring comfort and compassion and the true benefits, for men and women who want to create a family, though.

So for me, as an actor, it was wonderful to play on that stage. It's a horror film, but as I say, it's a horror film about the true horrors of what happens in our society and has happened. But nevertheless, it has a kind of a nod and a wink to the audience, and it lets them in, and John Lee really created something quite lyrical and disturbing in the work.

Because you've played characters that have stretched through all different genres and have run the gamut in terms of being morally complex to being the hero, do you find characters like this are a little more fun to sink your teeth into, when you can get into those gray areas and play around with audiences' expectations at the same time?

Pierce Brosnan: Absolutely. You have a greater landscape, a wider stage to play on, when you play characters who are morally corrupt, fractured, as I say, or malignant narcissists. So, one just relishes that. You can have many more colors to choose from on the palate, as opposed to playing the hero, which can be rather boring at times. It can be great fun, but when you're cast in that type of role many times over, you have to be able to branch out as an actor. You should be able to have more than one character in your quiver to be an actor and to have some sense of longevity, because you can get bored. Audiences can get bored. They find you out. And as soon as you walk on the stage, in the door, they judge you. So playing characters like this definitely has its advantages.