Liam Neeson has revealed his late wife, Natasha Richardson, wouldn’t have married him if he played the iconic role of James Bond.
Before Pierce Brosnan landed the role of legendary 007 for the 1995 film GoldenEye, the 70-year-old actor - who is famous for starring in the action-packed film Taken - had been in the running.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Memory star was asked if it was true that he turned down the lead role in the 90s film and he disclosed that he was "interested" but was never offered the part.
While Neeson told the franchise producer Barbara Broccoli that he was intrigued by the role, he came to reconsider it after discussing it with his late spouse.
Neeson was engaged to the late Parent Trap actress at the time, and they were filming the 1994 movie Nell before their July 1994 wedding.
"My lovely wife, 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,'" he shared.
The Blacklight actor recalled taking her words in stride and said: "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***!"
"She gave me a James Bond ultimatum. And she meant it!" he declared, adding that her light threat might've been because of "all those gorgeous girls in various countries getting into bed and getting out of bed".
The couple were married for 16 years and had two sons together, Micheál Richardson, 27, and Daniel Neeson, 26, before Richardson's tragic death in 2009.
The Maid in Manhatten actress had signed up for a ski lesson at the Mont Tremblant resort when she sustained a severe head injury after tumbling on a nursery slope.
An ambulance arrived 17 minutes after the fall was reported, but she had decided that she felt fine. However, when the actress returned to her suite she began to feel unwell and doctors were called again.
Medics arrived at the hotel and loaded Richardson into the ambulance so she could be taken to a local hospital. She was then airlifted the next day to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where she was placed on life support.
Unfortunately, the actress passed away with her husband by her side after her family made the decision to switch off the life-support.
The Ice Road actor spoke to Anderson Cooper about her death in 2014 and said that he went through a "profound feeling of instability," explaining: "The Earth isn't stable anymore and then it passes and it becomes more infrequent, but I still get it sometimes."
"[Her death] was never real, it still kind of isn't. There's periods now in our New York residence when I hear the door opening, especially the first couple of years," he continued. "Anytime I hear that door opening, I still think I'm going to hear her."
