Tri another day.

Some would presume that Pierce Brosnan's career reached its zenith when he was hired to utter the iconic words "Bond, James Bond" over the course of four films. But now, having vacated Bond's shoes, Brosnan feels he's reaching another peak, uttering some very different words indeed: "The margaritas always taste better in Mexico--margaritas and cock."

In writer-director Richard Shepard's The Matador, Brosnan plays Julian Noble, a debauched "trisexual" (because he'll try sleeping with anyone, says Shepard) hit man teetering on the edge of burnout. While in Mexico City to fulfill a contract, he meets--and seems to make a pass at--a flustered businessman (Greg Kinnear). Mayhem, friendship, and much un-Bond-like behavior ensue--including some toenail polishing. "We ended up having to reshoot that scene," Shepard says with glee. "So we got to watch Pierce paint his nails two days in a row."

Actually, The Matador represents a sort of return for Brosnan. In his first feature, 1980's The Long Good Friday, he played a sexy Speedo-clad IRA hit man who seduces (and stabs to death) a gay target at the baths. "I was trained in a style of performance to be audacious, brave, and not to be afraid of anything," Brosnan says. "If you can get away with being tall, elegant, suave, and sophisticated, and they pay you, why the fuck go against the grain? But you reach a certain point and think there's got to be more to it than just dressing up in suits and looking debonair. The Matador came at the right time."

Born in Ireland, Brosnan moved to London at age 11 and as a young man took to the stage. His U.S. breakthrough was the TV series Remington Steele, and he soon jumped into film--most recently in After the Sunset, which saw him share homoerotic moments and a bed with costar Woody Harrelson. Since 1996, Brosnan has also had his own production company, Irish DreamTime, where the Matador script landed in 2003. "I'm just feeling myself these days," Brosnan says with a shrug. "Feeling florid and letting it all hang out."

After watching him subvert his Bond persona, one wonders, Could the next 007 ever bed a lad to accomplish his mission? And whom would Brosnan recommend for the Bond Boy job? "Ewan NcGregor," he says. "Bless his cotton socks. Yet I don't think he's a 'boy' anymore. Orlando Bloom's a lovely lad, though. But I don't play the role now, so whoever gets it can pick."