“If You Play James Bond, We’re Not Getting Married”: Liam Neeson Revealed His Late Wife Stopped Him From Playing 007 In The 1990s

In a Rolling Stone interview published on February 20, Liam Neeson reflects on how his late wife, Natasha Richardson, prevented his chance of playing James Bond in the 1990s.

According to the 70-year-old actor, she gave him a “James Bond ultimatum, and she meant it!” 

He tells the outlet, “I was not offered James bond. I know the Broccolis. 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.’”

He goes further to explain his late wife’s reaction when she found out he had accepted to play the role saying: “And then 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.’”

The Taken star did not reveal how the ultimatum made him feel. Instead, he tells the publication, “So I would tease her by going behind her back, making my fingers as though I’m holding a gun, and then hum the James Bond theme.”

According to him, he loved pulling the tease on his late wife. 

In March 2009, the English actress Natasha sustained a head injury after falling during a beginner skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort. She resisted medical help and complained of a severe headache hours later. She died two days later after she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. 

In place of Liam, Pierce Brosnan was cast as the new 007 for his debut James Bond role in Goldeneye 1995. He was cast in other James Bond movies, Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997, The World Is Not Enough, 1999; and Die Another Day, 2002.

Having missed out on the James bond project, Liam Neeson soon landed another role as Jedi Knight Qui-Gonn Jinn in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1– The Phantom Menace.

Another huge opportunity soon came his way in Taken in 2009, following the death of his wife. Taken, which saw the production of several sequels, revived his career as an action movie star.

Enquiring why his wife made him drop the James Bond role, he tells the outlet, “Come on, there’s all those gorgeous girls in various countries getting into bed and getting out of bed. I’m sure a lot of her decision-making was based on that!” 

The veteran actor has two movies, Retribution and In the Land of Saints and Sinners, coming this 2023.