Pierce Brosnan has revealed that he suffered a rather nasty injury while shooting one of his most iconic James Bond scenes.

The 007 movie The World Is Not Enough opens with a memorable sequence in which Pierce races down the Thames in a boat during a high-speed chase.

“Going down the Thames in the bullet boat was pretty impressive,” he told Saturday’s edition of The Jonathan Ross Show. “I was in that boat, yes.

“On a Monday morning, I said goodbye to the wife and kids, there’s an oxygen tank here, there’s an oxygen tank there… you’re strapped in double, double. They said, ‘If you flip, you’re going to go to the hospital to have your stomach pumped.’ That was memorable.” 

Fortunately, the boat didn’t “flip”, but that doesn’t mean Pierce made it out of the stunt unscathed.

“[The boat] goes off the river into a restaurant, drives into a restaurant, wood sliced my face open,” Pierce recalled. “So, went off to the hospital, stitched up.”

He continued: “You live with the injuries. Daniel [Craig]  threw himself at everything. He was truly magnificent. His courage to do that and to endure so much was really impressive.

“Playing that role you will get hurt, there’s no question about it. You have to have stamina.” 

In the past, Pierce has spoken about injuries he sustained while making both GoldenEye, Die Another Day and Tomorrow Never Dies, one of which meant he had to be filmed from one angle for some sequences to cover up his scars.

As you can imagine, the conversation quickly turned to who will play 007 now Daniel Craig has stepped down from the role, and heaped praise on the hot favourite, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

“I think he would make a very fine Bond,” Pierce claimed. “He was actually in one of the movies I made called The Greatest. This young man we cast as ‘The Greatest’.

“He was so impressive then. He just had this charisma, he had this presence… so he would be good. But there’s many men on the list I’m sure.” 

Pierce previously said, around this time last year: “I think [Aaron] has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so.

“I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow. Be bold, go out there and have a great time. Just love it, just go for it.

“He can do it.”

The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday night at 9.20pm on ITV1.