Actor Liam Neeson refused to play James Bond in the 90s. AFP/Gabriel Bouys
The British actor had been approached in the 1990s to play the secret agent. Threatened with rupture by the one who was to become his wife, he declined the offer of service.
“If you play 007, we won’t get married…“. This ultimatum was given to Liam Neeson by the late actress Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), who married him on July 3, 1994.
This scoop was just donated to the magazine RollingStone by the hero of Taken in person. In this interview, the great actor of Irish origin, who notably played Oskar Schindler and Jean Valjean in the cinema, reveals that his friend Barbara Broccoli, the high priestess of the James Bond saga, proposed to him several times in the 1990s. to take over the role created by Sean Connery in James Bond versus Dr No.
Read alsoLiam Neeson in negotiations for the next Men in Black spin-off
The actor, at the height of his glory after the release of Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Schindler’s List, initially received this enticing proposal with pleasure. On the other hand, the one who would become his wife, Natacha Richardson, did not seem seduced by the service offer of Eon Productions. Worse than that, according to Neeson, she would have pressured her by threatening to leave him. He remembers it like it was yesterday: “My lovely wife, may God rest her soul, said to me as we were filming nell in North Carolina: Liam, I want to tell you something, if you play James Bond, we are not going to get married.
Read alsoThe favorite to embody James Bond is called… Norton, James Norton
Between his love for Natasha Richardson and James Bond, the heart of Liam Neeson did not hesitate for a single second. He quickly forgot 007 and the immortality conferred by the character invented by Ian Fleming. He married on July 3, 1994 with the woman of his life who will give him two children before tragically dying at the age of 45, on March 18, 2009.
Read alsoActress Natasha Richardson dies
nell by Michael Apted in 1994, with Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson…
SEE ALSO – Actor Bruce Willis has an incurable form of dementia