Liam Neeson Opens Up For the First Time About Natasha Richardson's Death

By John Mitchell Posted Feb 15th 2011 11:41PM

Nearly two years after his wife, Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson, passed away following a skiing accident, Liam Neeson is opening up for the first time about that terrible night in March 2009.

"I walked into the emergency [room] -- it's like seventy, eighty people, broken arms, black eyes, all that -- and for the first time in years, nobody recognizes me," the 'Taken' star told Esquire. "Not the nurses. The patients. No one. And I've come all this way, and they won't let me see her. And I'm looking past them, starting to push -- I'm like, 'F**k, I know my wife's back there someplace.'"

Neeson rarely speaks about his private life, and was initially hesitant to talk about Richardson with Esquire writer Tom Chiarella. However, while recounting a motorcycle accident that put him in the hospital in 2000, the Oscar-nominated star of 'Schindler's List' began to discuss the tragic parallels between the accident he survived and the one that took the life of his wife.

After striking a deer, Neeson lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a ditch, breaking his pelvis in two places. He was transferred to New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, and Richardson, who was filming in Canada, rushed to be by his side. "I found out later they'd told her I wouldn't last the night," Neeson said. "Well, they never f**king told me that."

The scene would be repeated nine years later, only in reverse, with Neeson rushing from the Canadian set of the film 'Chloe' to be with Richardson, who had hit her head in a skiing accident.

After the fall, Richardson was initially lucid and simply asked to be taken back to her room, dismissing the ambulances that reported to the scene. Three hours later, however, the actress was taken to a small Canadian hospital after complaining of a headache. Within a few hours she was transferred to a larger hospital in Montreal. Neeson rushed from the set of 'Chloe' to be with Richardson, who had fallen into a coma as a result of a brain hemorrhage sustained during the fall.

The day after Richardson's accident, she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she died on March 18, 2009. On March 19, theater lights on Broadway and in London's West End were dimmed in honor of the respected actress and dedicated AIDS research activist.

liam neeson esquire

"What am I gonna do? How am I going to get past the security?" Neeson told Chiarella, recounting what was going through his mind when he arrived at the hospital. "And I see two nurses, ladies, having a cigarette. I walk up, and luckily one of them recognizes me. And I'll tell you, I was so f**king grateful -- for the first time in I don't know how long -- to be recognized. And this one, she says, 'Go in that back door there.' She points me to it. 'Make a left. She's in a room there.' So I get there, just in time. And all these young doctors, who look all of eighteen years of age, they tell me the worst."

According to Chiarella, Neeson stopped the interview briefly while discussing Richardson, blinking back tears while gazing across the eatery at members of the late actress's extended family, who were coincidentally at the restaurant -- a favorite of Neeson and Richardson's -- the day of his interview with Esquire.

The actor returned to the set of 'Chloe' immediately after Richardson's funeral. "I just think I was still in a bit of shock," he said. "But it's kind of a no-brainer to go back to that work. It's a wee bit of a blur, but I know the tragedy hadn't just really smacked me yet."

Neeson and Richardson have two teenage sons, Michael and Daniel.

"I think I survived by running away some. Running away to work. Listen, I know how old I am and that I'm just a shoulder injury from losing roles like the one in 'Taken,'" the actor told Esquire. "So I stay with the training, I stay with the work. It's easy enough to plan jobs, to plan a lot of work. That's effective. But that's the weird thing about grief. You can't prepare for it. You think you're gonna cry and get it over with. You make those plans, but they never work."

Neeson's full interview is featured in Esquire's latest issue, on newsstands Feb. 22.

Tags: liam neeson, natasha richardson

Comments

(122)

Tuesday 15 February

By stu

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she's skiing in the clouds now w/ Sonny Bono & that Kennedy guy.
luv'd her sister & mom in Nip/Tuck.

Wednesday 16 February

By annalrichard

Loved her Aunt, Lynn Redgrave but didn't care for her Mother, Vanessa nor her vulgar talking husband, Liam Neeson. Remembering, her Mother protested everything, I do, however have a lot of sympathy for Natasha's teenage sons. These are years they need her and she's gone from them, forever.

By sharon

I still feel bad for him because it is heartbreaking to lose a person who is a part of you. But, he has a potty mouth. Could it be the Irish in him...and the gin?

By Jennifer

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He has a "potty mouth"? He speaks just like a regular man does.
F this, F that... pretty typical. But he's probably different in front of his sons.

But you know what is really interesting about him? I've never heard another celebrity speaking badly of him!! That say's a lot!

Actually, I've seen people give clean interviews, even the ones I'm sure swear like sailors. I just found it odd that while talking about his late wife he would use such rough words. That's all.

By J

What Jennifer says is true: he has a very good reputation in the industry. It is really hard to imagine that after the tragedy with his wife, he went back and finished that film, shooting all his remaining scenes in two days. You have to respect the professionalism of that.

By Sue

Strange how the only thing that really attracts your attention is his use of curse words. Frankly, if my loved one had died I'd probably curse a little too. I think it's wonderful that he was there for her as soon as he possibly could. You can almost feel the love that man had for his wife.

By joan

Potty mouth my foot. Liam Neeson is only expressing what any other normal person would have done if their loved one lay dying and they would not let them in to see the loved one. His reaction is that of a man who wants his wife and unfortunately loses her. He was a devoted husband and is a loving father and a gentleman, so wake up and smell the roses.

By Jrnnski

The man does not get to grow old with his wife, and his teenage sons lost their mother. He can swear as much as he wants.

By george

what do u mean potty mouth,the mayor of new york thinks we are all drunks,and now this anything else we can add to that the irish are responsible for, as if nobody used these words before.

By Sharon

I am another Sharon and I agree with you 100%. His language was inappropriate for speaking about the situation surrounding his deceased wife.

By Jan

I hope that not all the Sharons in the world are as stupid as you 3 sound. And, why would you even say anything about gin ? Do you have a drinking problem ? Liam Neeson is a very respectable man, and one of the greatest actors ever. If you don't believe me, just watch his movies. Especially " TAKEN " Supurb acting. And, I cried for him and his 2 sons, when I heard of their loss. My sincerest condolances to them.

By Scott

Potty Mouth? Give me a break! You madam, may not have a potty mouth but you are most certainly a bigot! "Could it be the Irish in him...and the gin" You imply that because he is Irish that SOMEHOW that makes him a "potty mouth" and a drunk. People like you make me sick with your moral superiority! Get off the cross Sharon... Jesus already did that.

By Fee

I went through the same thing as Liam, a loved one getting killed on the slopes. When you are at the ER, during ski season, you will find that it is pretty crowded. When you can't get an response to were your loved one is, you will use any type of swear word, and it is not just the Irish that uses these words. I wished I had the strength and courage as he did, but people react different.

By Lloyd

potty mouth? Yeah, and on what planet are you from. And then the nasty shot about the gin. You're despicable. Walk a mile in his shoes before you open your worthless yap again.

By Lorna

Sharon, you are right about the potty mouth. I do like Liam Neeson a lot, and I was surprised he would use that kind of language when talking about his late wife. People on here are saying he's just being a normal guy or he has every right to swear like that because of what he's been through. My husband died ten years ago when I was 46 years old. I did not and still do not use words like that - especially when speaking of him. The situation doesn't entitle me to use them. While I don't talk like a sailor, I don't talk like a saint either. He's still one of my favorite actors, but he could be a bit more respectful.

To: Jan,
I'm sure you cried. I stand by what I said. His language was inappropirate.

By Diana

Sharon, first of all, you are a bigot. Secondly, I can think of a lot of words, much worse than those he used to describe his frustration when he couldn't locate his dying wife, to describe the type of person you show yourself to be.

Do people, like yourself, really feel better about yourselves by trying to appear morally superior? And, like the other poster said before me, get off the cross, Jesus already did that! And from the sound of your post, you are not qualified to judge anyone.

And, YES, I'm Irish and offended by your ignorance.

By MARIAH

It sure is easy to see who on this board has walked in grief's moccocins and who has not.

This man is still grieving and most of you are to stupid to regognize it. That is not "potty mouth" ...it's grief.

Well, no one is immune. You will all get your turn at it.
...and you can all expect to swear ...A LOT.

By Walter

"Potty" is technically a dirty word in my opinion, being that potties are literally dirty. "F**k", however, shouldn't be considered one since it describes the act of procreation, which is the very key to our existence as a species. Nothing dirty about that.

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