Liam Neeson

Given Liam Neeson has demonstrated his action prowess with the ‘Taken’ movies, it won’t come as a surprise to hear the actor was in talks about becoming James Bond.

While the ‘Star Wars’ actor denied rumours he turned down the role for ‘GoldenEye’, he did reveal he had spoken to franchise producer Barbara Broccoli about potentially playing Bond.

Even so, Neeson said he ultimately chose to walk away from the opportunity to marry his late wife Natasha Richardson - who died in 2009.

He explained: “I know the Broccolis. They looked at a bunch of actors. ‘Schindler’s List’ had come out and Barbara had called me a couple of times to ask if I was interested, and I said, “Yes, I would be interested.

‘And then my lovely wife, God rest her soul, said to me while we were shooting ‘Nell’ down in the Carolinas, ‘Liam, I want to tell you something: If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.’

“She gave me a James Bond ultimatum, and she meant it! Come on, there’s all those gorgeous girls in various countries getting into bed and getting out of bed. I’m sure a lot of her decision-making was based on that!”