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NOVEMBER 2018
Interview
perennially relaxed in conversation, Neeson
these days resides in upstate New York, in a
19th-century farmhouse that comes complete
with gym and a screening room. It’s a life
he shares with his two sons: Micheál, 23,
and Danny, 21, from his marriage to the late
Natasha Richardson. “Everything I do in my
life now is informed by the fact that I’m a
father,” he offers. “Becoming a parent is the
most defining thing that can ever happen to
you, and not just the need to provide for them
in material things, but also the responsibility
of giving them a rich and honest emotional
life. And it’s a big challenge every day.
“The best part of being a dad is just being
able to love them and seeing that returned a
hundred times.”
Yet speaking to Neeson, you do still feel
a small sense of tragedy residing from the
death of his brilliant actress wife Natasha,
following a freak skiing accident near
Montreal, Canada in 2009. By his own
admission, it is something that will never
leave the actor, but he is at least at peace.
“I have my kids and they are my every
focus. We all go through things in life we
would rather not, but to emerge with two
grown men who I adore and who love me
and make me proud – I have to be grateful,
and I am.
“And life is still there – I can’t stop
moving forward, exploring, filling my head
with experiences and ideas. I can’t stop.
A lot of it comes from my admiration for
pioneers and adventurers. When I hear the
word pioneer I always think of Americans,
explorers and cutting trails through
America’s extraordinary country.”
POLITICS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
Indeed, such a big part of what informs
Neeson is travel. “When I travel I am
engaged by the differences between different
races and nationalities – there are so many
slightly altered conventions, traditions and
processes. And yet, through it all, the way
two people across different sides of the
worlds go about their daily lives is actually
incredibly similar. So I think travel broadens
the horizons, of course, but it also makes you
realise what a unified world looks like.
“Now if someone could give me something
to sort out my terrible jetlag – which I have
never got even close to conquering – I really
would be a happy man,” he laughs.
As well as home life in the United
States and frequent trips back home to
Ballymena, the actor has always sought out
peaceful relaxation in the south of France.
“St Tropez is a place I love to get away to.
It’s a cliché, I know, but it’s my cliché,” he
smiles. “Growing up in Ballymena I was
lucky to have the coastline nearby, and
once you have that in your life I think you
always naturally migrate back to it. Having
the sea around me makes me feel like there
is an escape from reality and you can lose
yourself in your imagination.
“And the south of France, in general,
is one of my favourite places in the whole
world. It holds so many happy memories, so
much laughter and joy.”
Neeson is also inspired when stepping
back into more rural settings when on
holiday. “What you truly appreciate when
you drive around France is the amount of
space there is. In our cities we assimilate
space to be a park or a green area, but when
you really travel and move away from the
main drag, the feeling of freedom, wherever
you are in the world, is one that human
beings should all experience.
“Not only does that remind us how small
and insignificant we are in this whole crazy
thing, but being in so much space, in nature,
and recharging the batteries must surely be the
most peaceful and soulful thing you can do.”
Elsewhere, Neeson is someone who has
never shied away from embracing politics
and social affairs – perhaps as a result of his
upbringing amongst the fierce cultural and
religious disputes that for so many years
enveloped Northern Ireland. It follows, then,
that his film choices often reflect that. From his
tour de force in Steven Spielberg’s
Schindler’s
List
in 1993 to last year’s portrayal of Mark Felt
in
The Man Who Brought Down the White House
,
the actor hasn’t so much embraced controversy,
more accepted its presence.
Indeed, in 2016 he ventured to south-east
Asia, taking up an invitation to star in a Korean
film,
Operation Chromite
, which retraced the
country’s civil war at the start of the 1950s.
“I was aware that very few western actors
had come over to Korea and that made me
“St Tropez is a place I love to get away to. It’s a
cliché, I know, but it’s my cliché…The south of
France, in general, is one of my favourite places
in the whole world. It holds so many happy
memories, so much laughter and joy”
Above:
Star Wars – The
Phantom Menace
(1999)
Left:
Schindler’s List
(1993)