James Bond tried to smuggle 10-inch hunting knife onto plane.

That’s not a knife, this is a — oh wait, wrong guy.

The man whose name is usually preceded by a series of “s” words — smouldering, suave, silver fox — Pierce Brosnan, 62, was detained at Burlington Airport in Vermont when he tried to board a plane with a 10-inch hunting knife.

Was the former 007 expecting an encounter with a deadly assassin?

No, actually, he just wanted to keep his Derwents sharp.

Brosnan told Extra at the premiere of his new movie No Escape that the hunting knife wasn’t for the purposes of eviscerating innocent Bambi-style animals, but rather for his art.

“It wasn’t 10 inches long,” he said. “I’m a painter — I’m an artist, so I had my pencils. The knife just went into the bag — you want to keep your pencils sharpened.”

While I agree that there’s really nothing quite like a pointy-tipped 2B on a creamy sheet of fresh paper, it makes me curious. Has Brosnan managed to miss the whole pencil sharpener thing? They were massive when I was in primary school.

Still I tend to believe him. Mostly because he’s really handsome but also because he actually does “do” art.

And because he’s a dedicated animal activist with an entire section of his personal website dedicated to the cause.

YAY Pierce! Give him back his pencil-sharpening hunting knife, you TSA jerks!

More on celebrity run-ins with the law?

Have mercy: John Stamos has been arrested.

One of our favourite Buffy stars just got arrested (and married).

Django unchained actressed arrested for kissing her husband in public.