Pierce Brosnan says Richard Osman was ‘too scared’ to visit Thursday Murder Club set

Pierce Brosnan has revealed that Thursday Murder Club writer Richard Osman was “too scared” to go on the set of the Netflix adaptation of his book.

“I think he was scared to come to the set, possibly,” the Die Another Day actor told Saga magazine. “He was a bit nervous, but he did join us and so did Steven [Spielberg, who is a producer on the movie].”

Brosnan stars alongside Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie in the forthcoming movie, which is set to be released in some cinemas later this month on 22 August, and on Netflix on 28 August.

It follows the story of a group of pensioners living in a sleepy retirement village, who form a group to investigate murders at their leisure. Based on the internationally bestselling book series by Osman, who will release the narrative’s fifth instalment next month.

Brosnan praised Thursday Murder Club for exploring the lives of older people, who he said are often “pushed to the side” of society.

“It will bring great comfort to people who are getting old,” he said. “We don’t really look after the elders in our society, they get pushed to the side. It’s a story of dignity and hope.”

Reflecting on his own ageing, the 72-year-old said: “I don’t see myself as an old man at all. But I suppose I would be considered an old man by some and I am getting older, that's for sure. So ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ dealt with all of those intricacies of the heart that are so fragile to look at sometimes.”

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Mirren praised the team behind the highly anticipated film, saying: “Really good writers understand that a book and a film are two completely different things. He put the material into the incredibly knowledgeable hands of Chris Columbus and let it go.”

Columbus’s other credits include Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Mrs Doubtfire, The Goonies, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

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Osman has previously said that his visual impairment has informed his characters, who have become much-loved by readers.

“In my life, I’m not judging people by what they look like, because I don’t really see it,” he said.

“I read books sometimes and someone will say, ‘someone has a twitch of their lip,’ or ‘their eyes do something,’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve never seen that. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ That’s not how I see the world. I don’t see what people look like, but I do get a very strong vibe of the world, how people talk, the attitude that people have.”