Liam Neeson is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and has had an impressive career filled with iconic roles. The actor’s career has continued to flourish, even now, as he enters his 70s.
But stardom aside, how is his personal life, and what challenges has he faced after the tragic passing of his wife, Natasha Richardson?
It is no secret that Neeson has struggled with losing his wife and has given several interviews addressing this. It appears she is never far from his mind. Here is what we know about how he put back together the pieces of his life…
Who Was Liam Neeson’s Wife, Natasha Richardson?
Liam Neeson was married to Natasha Richardson from 1994 until her untimely passing in 2009. She was a British actress, and the pair appeared to be incredibly happy together.
But this all came crashing to a sudden halt after Richardson suffered a head injury while skiing in Mont-Tremblant.
She had fallen on a beginner’s slope and hit her head. Initially, there had been no concern for her health, and it has been reported that Richardson refused to be taken to the hospital.
Sadly, things took a dramatic turn, and she was later declared brain-dead and put on life support. At the time, she was just 45 years old.
Richardson was survived by her husband, Liam Neeson, and the couple also had two sons, Daniel Neeson, and Micheál Richardson.
Years later, her son, Micheál, would reflect on his mother’s sudden passing, telling The Times, “When it’s unexpected and it’s just a complete freak accident, it really sort of messes with your mind, whether you believe in fate or not.
It can send you for a bit of a head spin, and so you just latch on to the tiny little memories, whether it’s her laugh or her energy in the room or her cooking. I do have her films to go back and watch her in, which I’m incredibly grateful for.”
Other Unexpected Celebrity Passings
It was not just Micheál and his brother who suffered greatly from the loss, but also Liam Neeson. He gave an interview about her passing in 2014 with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes (via Us Weekly).
Reflecting on the moments after the fall, Neeson said, “I spoke to her, and she said, ‘Oh, darling, I’ve taken a tumble in the snow.’ That’s how she described it.”
When he got to the hospital, he remembers speaking to his wife. “I went in to her and told her I loved her. [I] said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this. You’ve banged your head.
It’s — I don’t know if you can hear me, but that’s — this is what’s gone down,” he reflected.
“And we’re bringing ya back to New York. All your family and friends will come.’ And that was more or less it.”
He also praised his late wife for being so caring and an optimist, noting that when he would “always see the glass half empty” while she would “see it half full.”
Did Liam Neeson Find Love Again After His Wife’s Passing?
Natasha Richardson has never been far from Liam Neeson’s mind, and he has given multiple interviews about her and the love they shared over the years. This includes a sit-down with Esquire in March 2011. “That’s the weird thing about grief. You can’t prepare for it. You think you’re gonna cry and get it over with.
You make those plans, but they never work,” Neeson said. “It hits you in the middle of the night — well, it hits me in the middle of the night. I’m out walking. I’m feeling quite content. And it’s like suddenly, boom. It’s like you’ve just done that in your chest.”
Neeson is a private individual, but he was reported to have had a relationship following Natasha Richardson’s passing. Vanity Fair notes that in September 2010, he dated British publicist Freya St Johnston.
The relationship would end two years later. In 2020, Neeson gave an interview with Sunrise (via Vanity Fair) and told the hosts that he had enjoyed filming in Australia. He continued, “I made a couple of pals… I fell in love, but she was taken.”
The comments came as a surprise to many because Neeson is a notoriously private individual. Richardson is still a big part of his life, and he visits her grave often.
“I speak to her every day at her grave, which is about a mile and a half down the road,” he reportedly told Inquirer in 2020 (via Evening Standard).
“I go down there quite often, so I do speak to her as if she’s here. Not that she answers me.”
How Has Liam Neeson’s Wife Impacted His Career?
Despite his heartbreak and grief, Liam Neeson has been able to maintain a successful Hollywood career.
While we cannot speculate to the full extent that Natasha Richardson’s passing had on him, we do know what he has said about her in interviews.
This includes her decision to persuade him not to become James Bond.
In 2023, Neeson spoke about Richardson again, this time to tell fans the ultimatum she gave him concerning the 1995 film, GoldenEye. He was not offered the role, but he had considered playing it.
However, his wife was against it. He reflected on the time in an interview with Rolling Stone. “They looked at a bunch of actors.
Schindler’s List had come out, and Barbara [Broccoli] had called me a couple of times to ask if I was interested, and I said, ‘Yes, I would be interested,'” Neeson explained.
“And then my lovely wife [Natasha Richardson], god rest her soul, said to me while we were shooting Nell down in the Carolinas, ‘Liam, I want to tell you something: If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.
So I would tease her by going behind her back, making my fingers as though I’m holding a gun, and then [hums the James Bond theme]. I loved doing that s***!”
