With films such as Taken, Unknown and his latest offering Non-Stop, Irish actor Liam Neeson has reinvented himself as an action star over the past couple of years. However, had things been different, he could have made this transition much earlier, with the producers of the James Bond franchise eyeing Neeson to take over from Timothy Dalton for 1995’s GoldenEye. Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail, Neeson has explained why he passed on the role of the super spy 007:
“I was heavily courted, let’s put it that way, and I’m sure some other actors were too. It was about 18 or 19 years ago and my wife-to-be [Natasha Richardson] said, ‘If you play James Bond we’re not getting married!’ And I had to take that on board, because I did want to marry her.”
With Timothy Dalton retiring from the role of Bond in 1994, Eon Productions eventually turned to Pierce Brosnan, who had first been offered the role back in the mid-80s, only to be forced to pass due to his commitments to the TV series Remington Steele.
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Originally published March 10, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
