Just three weeks after Natasha Richardson’s death, Liam Neeson has signed on to a new film. The film is a remake of Clash of the Titans, and Liam will be playing Zeus. The Zeus role was originally played by Laurence Olivier, so Liam is in very good company. Liam will be joined by his good friend and Schindler’s List co-star Ralph Fiennes, who will play Hades, god of the Underworld. Clash of the Titans will be filmed in England, over the summer. A lot of the Richardson/Redgrave family lives in England, so Liam and his sons will be surrounded by people who love them.
Liam Neeson has signed for his first new movie role since the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, in a tragic ski accident.
The actor, 56, will play Zeus, the king of the gods, in Clash of the Titans, a reimagining of the Greek myth of Perseus, Variety reports. Ralph Fiennes is set to play Hades, the god of the underworld. (Laurence Olivier played Zeus in the 1981 movie Clash of the Titans, a cult hit.)
Neeson, who plans to start shooting Titans this summer, recently completed his final scenes on Chloe, the movie he was making at the time of Richardson’s March 18 death, and has been spending time with his sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12. The family took in a soccer game in London on April 4. “Liam is taking care of his kids and making sure they’re okay,” a family friend tells PEOPLE.
From People Magazine
Neeson’s made a few public appearances in the past week. He attended a game with his sons and Vanessa Redgrave, and he made a public appearance in London to help celebrate his friend David Frost’s 70th birthday.
In the wake of Natasha’s death and during the funeral, Liam seemed to be sleepwalking. The man looked like a zombie, and I suspect the full force of his and his sons’ loss hasn’t hit him completely. I also suspect Liam thinks the best course of action, and the best way to heal, is to get back to work as soon as possible. That’s something I’ll never understand, and I suspect it’s because I’m so American. In his situation I would need to curl up in a ball, weeping, for about a year. But everybody’s different, and I’m sure that if Liam needs help, he’ll ask for it. In any case, he is and will continue to be surrounded by friends and family, and working with Ralph Fiennes is always something to look forward to.
Liam Neeson is shown out at Sundance on 1/19/09. Credit: WENN.com
I’m american and I would do the same thing. In fact, I have. Thats not a country type trait but an individual personality trait.
people have said to me that they would not have been as strong as I was or they would have just broken down and cried for months on end but thats just not my way.
doesnt mean i feel any less, just that getting on with the job of living was the best way for me.
I’m sure he’s still going through hell but he’s a professional actor, probably just doing what’s most familiar and comforting and normal for him. His face since her death still brings a big lump to my throat. 🙁
Liam has two young sons and for their sake can’t break down for months on end. That’s why going back to work and providing them with some sense of normality is a good idea.
I think people find a strength when children are involved because it’s not just you hat needs looking after.
It will also do him good to work with his good buddy, Ralph Fiennes, who was also there for him during the funeral. What a class act Neeson is. I think he wants to keep moving to prevent himself from falling apart. And yes, with kids involved, that’s just not an option. They are looking to him for cues and he is right to provide normalcy and routine at this heartbreaking time. They also need to mourn and I’m sure the female members of the boys’ family (Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson) are a great support to them, too.
Definitely a class act. But is it ok to be super psyched about a Clash of the Titans remake? Because I am.
Am I the only one surprised at how “well” he is handling this? Almost a little to well. John Travolta lost his son and you haven’t seen the man in public since. Understandably. Liam lost his wife of alot of years, mother to his two children and he not only went and finished a movie but is now signed for another one??? I don’t get that.
I think it’s a good idea. His sons probably went back to school soon after and their dad wants to set an example. Anyway filming doesn’t start for months so
he has plenty of time. It must be cathartic to escape from his own headspace and emmerse himself in someone elses emotions. If he locked himself inside thinking about his wife all day he’d probably go crazy
@Susan – “…Almost a little too well.”
What on earth is that supposed to mean?
I guess just that it doesn’t seem like it’s phasing him as much as it should.
But, then again, when Elizabeth Taylor’s husband was killed in an airplane crash – it happened right in the middle of filiming “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and she returned to the movie and finished filming.
I don’t know how they do that. I guess I don’t understand how strong these people are. I wouldn’t be able to carry on like that.
Some people are just more stoic than others…….some are just more sensitive to others.
He strikes me as the former. It doesnt mean he isn’t hurt and devastated. It means he is putting one foot in front of the other, and continuing to live his life the best he can.
Maybe he thinks he has a craft to share, kids (& staff!) to support, and there is nothing to be gained by curling up for a year and wailing and pitying himself. Doing so wont bring her back. Doing so won’t make him feel any better. Doing so will actually hurt others.
Life will move on . So clearly he plans to keep living.
Methinks some people are a little self absorbed and judgmental to think he is doing something odd and peculiar. I think doing otherwise is weak.
(sniff) just my opinion
My brother was the same way when my sister-in-law died. You have to keep going. Someone loses the person they thought they’d grow old with, and from the outside, you can’t imagine how they can stand it. But if you have kids, what else are you supposed to do?
Or rather, especially if you have kids.
Sometimes these things hit you later. Both of my husbans parents died within a couple of months of each other (she of a heart attack – he of a broken heart) and I thought he was handling it “to well” also. About 6 months later when he brought something home from the office to show his dad is when it really hit him HARD. People mourn in very different ways.
You guys haven’t mentioned something else — he might just need the money for his family. Not *everyone* in Hollywood is filthy rich.
Even if he makes millions of dollars a picture, he might have a huge stack of bills to pay, not to mention an agent and lawyers.
Man, when I heard the story of his wife, I felt so bad for him and the family. I’m glad he has family to help heal his emptiness, what a tragic loss for anyone.
Yeah, Susan, I thought that was strange too. I’m not judging Liam or anything, I just expected him to act differently. I mean, they were together for so long and they had two boys…
I don’t know why in our society, in general, it is so wrong to suffer in public. If you’re struggling, you have to hide away from the others, in order not to bother them with “grim” things. I mean, in some countries, the license a person gets when a baby is born is longer than the license the person gets when a loved one dies. People stop calling. They start telling the person to “get over” it. They say you’re pitying yourself. We are constantly told to leave the dead ones behind. Sometimes, people act as if they never existed. It just so weird. Not right or wrong, just, weird. And even insensitive.
I agree with Susan. I thought they had a great marriage,one of the few in Hollywood, but it’s like he hasn’t missed a beat. I totally understand work and the football game with his kids. But he was recently at some gala to honor David Frost and spotted at some paparrazi infested restaurant. People grieve differently but those things suprised me. I would not be up for large social scenes if I suddenly lost my husband.
“I would not be up for large social scenes if I suddenly lost my husband”
that might be the key. It’s Liam and not you 😉 people have different ways to cope with their sadness..
when I lost my father I take all the tasks and want to make sure everything is perfect. I did everything to be busy until his cremation..I became a workaholic and never let myself to be alone.I didn’t cry until a few months after that, when I heard a song that remind me of him.
just because some people don’t hide away from everyone doesn’t mean they don’t feel hurt or sad. That’s not insensitive. what insensitive is judging his way to cope with his grief as insensitive and weird.
sometimes we are afraid to be alone because we are afraid to break down and cry which could make others get sadder. maybe that’s what he thinks, maybe just maybe…he doesn’t want to look sad for the sake of their children so they wont get sadder, ykwim?
i think i had a dream about you last night as Dark Man, Mister Liam Neeson! but you were jumping off of a tall building to become the Dark Man instead of the way you became the Dark Man in the movie, Mister Liam Neeson, Yikes!