TIL: Liam Neeson Declined ‘James Bond’ Role to Marry His Wife
Liam Neeson turned down the role of James Bond to marry his late wife.
Liam Neeson is now known as a total badass after his roles in the Taken franchise and others like “The Grey” or even Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy. While he is perceived as this unstoppable tough guy, it turns out he has quite a big heart when it comes to love.
Today I learned (TIL) that Liam Neeson could have been our next James Bond but his late wife Natasha Richardson wasn’t interested in marrying him if he took the role. He explained the situation in an interview with E! News last year but the article didn’t seem to get much coverage.
“I was heavily courted, let’s put it that way, and I’m sure some other actors were too,” the thespian said. “It was about 18 or 19 years ago and my wife-to-be said, ‘If you play James Bond we’re not getting married!’ And I had to take that on board, because I did want to marry her,” he remembered with a smile.
After seeing Liam Neeson in many of the roles he has taken on in the past few years, the conversations have risen about him being James Bond. At the time he was approached for the part, it was Pierce Brosnan that took the role in the Bond film “Goldeneye.” In retrospect, I’m sure that many would agree that Brosnan shined in the role but it would be interesting to see how Neeson would have done.
In the end it was probably best that Neeson declined the role because Brosnan was amazing. Liam Neeson still has been a prominent name in Hollywood and I’m sure that he believes he made the right choice as well. It wasn’t revealed why Natasha didn’t want him to take the role but he was happily married to her with two children. When he tragically lost her in 2009, he was devastated and when discussing her you can still see and hear remnants of that devastation. He may have declined an iconic role but it’s safe to say that Liam Neeson is a man of good character and has no regrets.
