Liam Neeson
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Not Plain Jane
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OMG, who is that with him!?
dailymail.co.uk
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1850.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1851.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1852.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1853.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1854.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1855.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1856.jpg
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1850.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1851.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1852.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1853.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1854.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1855.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1856.jpg
dailymail.co.uk
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1939.jpg
Liam Neeson is a hostage. Not in the action hero, shoot ’em up kind of way he’s been portraying on screen in recent years but at home in upstate New York, where he’s bringing up his two teenage boys, Michael, 17, and Daniel, 16.
It was his great friend Meryl Streep who warned him that he’d forever be a hostage to love once he became a parent; since he became a single parent, it’s even more the case.
Over breakfast at the Ritz Carlton in New York this week, the actor, who turned 60 this summer, acknowledged the joy he derives from fatherhood, while admitting the anxieties that go with having children who are rapidly growing up.
‘My kids are learning to drive at the minute and it’s kind of nerve-racking, isn’t it? They’re actually quite accomplished but inside of you, you always see them at a very young age and now suddenly they’re driving a car. It’s something every parent goes through,’ he says with a weary, disbelieving shake of his head.
Between promoting Taken 2 and getting ready to start yet another action movie – aptly called Non Stop – in the New Year, Liam looks tired. But three and a half years after burying his wife, Natasha Richardson, following a freak skiing accident, he seems to have found some contentment.
‘It’s an ongoing joy being a dad,’ he says. ‘It’s always a joy but it’s a joyful worry. My boys are 16 and 17 now and it seems like just last Tuesday that crossing the road was a major event. And, then, letting them cross the road themselves was a serious major event.
‘When Michael was born, Meryl Streep, who is a pal, looked at my son sleeping and she said, “You know you’re a hostage now for the rest of your life?”. That’s absolutely true, no matter what age they are, they’re still going to be your little boy or your little girl. And you are a hostage to love.’
He concedes without the slightest hesitation that being a father to his children has helped him grow as a man. ‘They really do help, in all sorts of quiet, subtle ways.’ Then he jokes about his own sometimes powerlessness in the role. ‘They seldom come home when they’re supposed to but I just have to get used to that.’
Despite Liam’s own success and fame as an actor he is desperately hoping his boys won’t follow their parents into the same profession. The idea of them going through the near-constant rejection that is the lot of most actors is so painful to Liam, the father, that he can’t abide to wish it on them.
‘Thankfully, they’re not showing much interest in going down that road and to be totally honest with you, I’m kind of relieved. I think if you’re the son or daughter of successful actors and actresses, it’s a double pressure. More is expected of you.
‘For every successful actor or actress, there are countless numbers who don’t make it. The name of the game is rejection. You go to an audition and you’re told you’re too tall or you’re too Irish or your nose is not quite right. You’re rejected for your *education, you’re rejected for this or that and it’s really tough. I don’t want my kids to have to go through that and to feel rejected.
‘Like I said, they’re showing no inclination now but it may come later. I’m not encouraging it. My mother-in-law is, but that’s mothers-in-law, right?’
The mother-in-law in question is, of course, Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave, mother to Natasha and her actress sister, Joely. The families are closer than ever since Natasha’s tragic death in March 2009, with the boys regularly spending time in London with the Richardsons and in Ballymena with the Neesons.
Turning 60 in June did not appear to be particularly traumatic for Neeson, at least on the surface, what with his revitalised career and a girlfriend – PR executive Freya St Johnston – on the scene.
Indeed, he was confident enough about his physique to strip down to a tiny pair of pink underpants on the Ellen DeGeneres show in New York this week, to raise money for breast cancer. It showed a lighter side of Liam that we’ve not seen in years.
‘Well, 60 is the new 40, right? That’s what everyone tells me,’ he laughs. ‘I love walking in New York, where nobody bothers you and I have a walking partner. I do eight miles around Central Park and then I’ll do an extra loop. I do the usual boring push ups and sit-ups and stuff like that.’
And he says that he now has an added incentive to stay fit and in good shape.
‘I’m doing a film with Paul Haggis next month and I’ve got a couple of bed scenes with Olivia Wilde. Yep! So, the push-ups continue,’ he says with a smirk of anticipation about working with the 28-year-old actress who trained at the Gaiety School Of Acting in Dublin.
Having been very low-key about how or even whether he was planning to mark his 60th birthday, what did he actually do to celebrate it?
’ll tell you if you let me name-drop. I was with my pal Bono and we had a very quiet dinner at the Waverley Inn with some friends, some buddies. Matthew Broderick was there. There were about 15 of us. It was lovely. Lots of Perrier water was consumed!’
Before he became such a success as an action hero, Hollywood kept casting Neeson in statesman-like roles, such as Oskar Schindler, for which he won an Oscar, Alfred Kinsey and Michael *Collins. He had been cast by Steven Spielberg to play Abraham Lincoln and it was in the works for several years, before Neeson finally asked the *director to cut him loose and to cast Daniel Day-Lewis in the part in his stead. It is a decision that he still feels was correct.
‘When I was doing the first Taken, I was kind of preparing for Lincoln. But there comes a time when you’re past your sell-by date, and I felt like I was at that point seven years ago. I was fluctuating in weight. I was dropping weight when I thought we were getting close to shooting – then, when we weren’t, I was putting weight on again.
'So one day, I called Steven up and said, “Steven, please call Daniel Day-Lewis if you haven’t already done so and give him the part.” He made the right choice. I haven’t seen the film yet but I’ve seen a picture of Daniel and he looks amazing. I’m sure he’ll be extraordinary, as he always is.’
During the filming of Taken 2 in Istanbul, Liam spoke of how moving he found the muezzins calling the faithful to prayer several times a day. As he grows older, I wonder where he is on the question of faith in his own life and how he is bringing up the boys.
‘That’s a big, loaded question, my darling,’ he says, pausing and shaking his head as he considers his answer. ‘I was brought up a very strict Catholic. I was an altar boy, as you know, and the High Mass was very theatrical, which I’m sure affected me as regards wanting to be an actor and all the rest of it.
‘I guess I’m something of a lapsed Catholic but I have to say that being in Istanbul the first week with the call to prayer, I was like, “Is this ever going to stop?” The second week, it was really getting under my skin but by the third week, I couldn’t live without it. It really became hypnotic and very, very moving for me in a very, very special way. I bought some CDs of the chants and sometimes I put them on and try to go to sleep. They are very hypnotic and very beautiful.’
So what is he teaching his sons about spirituality?
‘I don’t actively teach them. I mean it’s a big thing, spirituality. I don’t ram religion down their throats, you know.
‘I’m a big believer in acts of kindness, no matter how small. Thank you notes are very, very important. So is giving to charity, that kind of thing.
‘I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I get a chance to do something I love and they pay me lots of money for it.
‘It’s an honour to sit in this beautiful hotel in New York with you. I should be working in some factory in Belfast but I’m not. I give thanks for that.’
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti1939.jpg
Liam Neeson is a hostage. Not in the action hero, shoot ’em up kind of way he’s been portraying on screen in recent years but at home in upstate New York, where he’s bringing up his two teenage boys, Michael, 17, and Daniel, 16.
It was his great friend Meryl Streep who warned him that he’d forever be a hostage to love once he became a parent; since he became a single parent, it’s even more the case.
Over breakfast at the Ritz Carlton in New York this week, the actor, who turned 60 this summer, acknowledged the joy he derives from fatherhood, while admitting the anxieties that go with having children who are rapidly growing up.
‘My kids are learning to drive at the minute and it’s kind of nerve-racking, isn’t it? They’re actually quite accomplished but inside of you, you always see them at a very young age and now suddenly they’re driving a car. It’s something every parent goes through,’ he says with a weary, disbelieving shake of his head.
Between promoting Taken 2 and getting ready to start yet another action movie – aptly called Non Stop – in the New Year, Liam looks tired. But three and a half years after burying his wife, Natasha Richardson, following a freak skiing accident, he seems to have found some contentment.
‘It’s an ongoing joy being a dad,’ he says. ‘It’s always a joy but it’s a joyful worry. My boys are 16 and 17 now and it seems like just last Tuesday that crossing the road was a major event. And, then, letting them cross the road themselves was a serious major event.
‘When Michael was born, Meryl Streep, who is a pal, looked at my son sleeping and she said, “You know you’re a hostage now for the rest of your life?”. That’s absolutely true, no matter what age they are, they’re still going to be your little boy or your little girl. And you are a hostage to love.’
He concedes without the slightest hesitation that being a father to his children has helped him grow as a man. ‘They really do help, in all sorts of quiet, subtle ways.’ Then he jokes about his own sometimes powerlessness in the role. ‘They seldom come home when they’re supposed to but I just have to get used to that.’
Despite Liam’s own success and fame as an actor he is desperately hoping his boys won’t follow their parents into the same profession. The idea of them going through the near-constant rejection that is the lot of most actors is so painful to Liam, the father, that he can’t abide to wish it on them.
‘Thankfully, they’re not showing much interest in going down that road and to be totally honest with you, I’m kind of relieved. I think if you’re the son or daughter of successful actors and actresses, it’s a double pressure. More is expected of you.
‘For every successful actor or actress, there are countless numbers who don’t make it. The name of the game is rejection. You go to an audition and you’re told you’re too tall or you’re too Irish or your nose is not quite right. You’re rejected for your *education, you’re rejected for this or that and it’s really tough. I don’t want my kids to have to go through that and to feel rejected.
‘Like I said, they’re showing no inclination now but it may come later. I’m not encouraging it. My mother-in-law is, but that’s mothers-in-law, right?’
The mother-in-law in question is, of course, Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave, mother to Natasha and her actress sister, Joely. The families are closer than ever since Natasha’s tragic death in March 2009, with the boys regularly spending time in London with the Richardsons and in Ballymena with the Neesons.
Turning 60 in June did not appear to be particularly traumatic for Neeson, at least on the surface, what with his revitalised career and a girlfriend – PR executive Freya St Johnston – on the scene.
Indeed, he was confident enough about his physique to strip down to a tiny pair of pink underpants on the Ellen DeGeneres show in New York this week, to raise money for breast cancer. It showed a lighter side of Liam that we’ve not seen in years.
‘Well, 60 is the new 40, right? That’s what everyone tells me,’ he laughs. ‘I love walking in New York, where nobody bothers you and I have a walking partner. I do eight miles around Central Park and then I’ll do an extra loop. I do the usual boring push ups and sit-ups and stuff like that.’
And he says that he now has an added incentive to stay fit and in good shape.
‘I’m doing a film with Paul Haggis next month and I’ve got a couple of bed scenes with Olivia Wilde. Yep! So, the push-ups continue,’ he says with a smirk of anticipation about working with the 28-year-old actress who trained at the Gaiety School Of Acting in Dublin.
Having been very low-key about how or even whether he was planning to mark his 60th birthday, what did he actually do to celebrate it?
’ll tell you if you let me name-drop. I was with my pal Bono and we had a very quiet dinner at the Waverley Inn with some friends, some buddies. Matthew Broderick was there. There were about 15 of us. It was lovely. Lots of Perrier water was consumed!’
Before he became such a success as an action hero, Hollywood kept casting Neeson in statesman-like roles, such as Oskar Schindler, for which he won an Oscar, Alfred Kinsey and Michael *Collins. He had been cast by Steven Spielberg to play Abraham Lincoln and it was in the works for several years, before Neeson finally asked the *director to cut him loose and to cast Daniel Day-Lewis in the part in his stead. It is a decision that he still feels was correct.
‘When I was doing the first Taken, I was kind of preparing for Lincoln. But there comes a time when you’re past your sell-by date, and I felt like I was at that point seven years ago. I was fluctuating in weight. I was dropping weight when I thought we were getting close to shooting – then, when we weren’t, I was putting weight on again.
'So one day, I called Steven up and said, “Steven, please call Daniel Day-Lewis if you haven’t already done so and give him the part.” He made the right choice. I haven’t seen the film yet but I’ve seen a picture of Daniel and he looks amazing. I’m sure he’ll be extraordinary, as he always is.’
During the filming of Taken 2 in Istanbul, Liam spoke of how moving he found the muezzins calling the faithful to prayer several times a day. As he grows older, I wonder where he is on the question of faith in his own life and how he is bringing up the boys.
‘That’s a big, loaded question, my darling,’ he says, pausing and shaking his head as he considers his answer. ‘I was brought up a very strict Catholic. I was an altar boy, as you know, and the High Mass was very theatrical, which I’m sure affected me as regards wanting to be an actor and all the rest of it.
‘I guess I’m something of a lapsed Catholic but I have to say that being in Istanbul the first week with the call to prayer, I was like, “Is this ever going to stop?” The second week, it was really getting under my skin but by the third week, I couldn’t live without it. It really became hypnotic and very, very moving for me in a very, very special way. I bought some CDs of the chants and sometimes I put them on and try to go to sleep. They are very hypnotic and very beautiful.’
So what is he teaching his sons about spirituality?
‘I don’t actively teach them. I mean it’s a big thing, spirituality. I don’t ram religion down their throats, you know.
‘I’m a big believer in acts of kindness, no matter how small. Thank you notes are very, very important. So is giving to charity, that kind of thing.
‘I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I get a chance to do something I love and they pay me lots of money for it.
‘It’s an honour to sit in this beautiful hotel in New York with you. I should be working in some factory in Belfast but I’m not. I give thanks for that.’
Adri028456
Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2010
- Messages
- 289
- Reaction score
- 3
He's so just handsome. I'm sitting here literally looking at these pics like "damn!"
zimbio
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne21.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne22.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne23.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne24.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne25.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne26.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne27.jpg
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde begin filming on the set for the new Paul Haggis movie "Third Person" on Via Veneto street, at Caffè de Paris, the historical Dolce Vita Bar, in Rome. Wilde and Neeson play a married couple on holiday in Rome.
October 17, 2012 -
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne21.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne22.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne23.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne24.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne25.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne26.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne27.jpg
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde begin filming on the set for the new Paul Haggis movie "Third Person" on Via Veneto street, at Caffè de Paris, the historical Dolce Vita Bar, in Rome. Wilde and Neeson play a married couple on holiday in Rome.
October 17, 2012 -
zimbio
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne28.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne29.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne30.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne31.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne32.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne33.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne34.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne35.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne36.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne37.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne38.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/liamne39.jpg
Liam Neeson and his girlfriend Freya St. Johnston hold hands as they take a tour of Rome. The couple visit the Spanish steps and the Piazza del Popolo while Neeson is in town to film 'Third Person.' .
October 14, 2012 -
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Liam Neeson and his girlfriend Freya St. Johnston hold hands as they take a tour of Rome. The couple visit the Spanish steps and the Piazza del Popolo while Neeson is in town to film 'Third Person.' .
October 14, 2012 -
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zimbio
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson10.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson11.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson12.jpg
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde film scenes on the set of writer/ director Paul Haggis's new movie "Third Person," in Farnese Square in Rome. In Neeson's scene, he kneels in front of a child that sits on a fountain and talks to him. Wilde wears a form fitting white dress and gets a kiss on the cheek from Neeson.
October 22, 2012
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson10.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson11.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/neeson12.jpg
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde film scenes on the set of writer/ director Paul Haggis's new movie "Third Person," in Farnese Square in Rome. In Neeson's scene, he kneels in front of a child that sits on a fountain and talks to him. Wilde wears a form fitting white dress and gets a kiss on the cheek from Neeson.
October 22, 2012
dailymail.co.uk
http://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti2070.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti2071.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti2072.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti2073.jpghttp://i38.***********/u/f38/11/78/63/65/th/arti2074.jpg
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zimbio
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde film scenes on the set of writer/ director Paul Haggis's new movie "Third Person," in Farnese Square in Rome. In Neeson's scene, he kneels in front of a child that sits on a fountain and talks to him. Wilde wears a form fitting white dress and gets a kiss on the cheek from Neeson.
October 22, 2012
http://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi197.jpghttp://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi198.jpghttp://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi197.jpg
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde film scenes on the set of writer/ director Paul Haggis's new movie "Third Person," in Farnese Square in Rome. In Neeson's scene, he kneels in front of a child that sits on a fountain and talks to him. Wilde wears a form fitting white dress and gets a kiss on the cheek from Neeson.
October 22, 2012
http://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi197.jpghttp://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi198.jpghttp://i48.***********/u/f48/11/78/63/65/th/olivi197.jpg
