Liam Neeson ‘scared’ to take on widower role in new film after wife’s death as director reveals sweet personal note

Made In Italy director and writer James D’Arcy has explained that actor Liam Neeson was ‘scared’ to take on his role as a widower in the movie after the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson.

Richardson, who married the Taken actor in 1994, died in 2009 from an epidural haematoma after hitting her head in a skiing accident.

They had two children together – Micheal, who stars in Made In Italy with his father, and Daniel.

The film, which is set in Tuscany, follows the relationship between a father and son as they navigate loss and new beginnings.

When approaching Liam for the role, James explained he was worried the actor would be insulted – but what happened was quite the opposite.

‘Liam was suggested to me, and I thought it was either a work of genius as an idea or a disaster,’ James told Metro.co.uk.

‘Because, very publicly, everybody knows what happened to his wife. And I thought we could get a very insulting note back from his agent: “How dare you send Liam that script?”

‘We were lucky it went the other way. And actually, I got an email personally from Liam saying, “I’ve read your script, and I really was touched by it, it moved me so much. And I’m a bit scared of it, and I think that’s the reason I’d like to be involved”, which is amazing.’

‘We had a cup of tea and Liam suggested, would I maybe meet Micheal, because he felt that there was something that they as a real-life father and son could bring, that you couldn’t act,’ James continued.

‘And I do understand that and I was very happy to meet Micheal,’ the filmmaker recalled.

‘And then I was thrilled, because Micheal’s super good looking, and really charming […] and they did have a sort of easy rapport with each other. And I could see that Liam felt very relaxed around Micheal.’

It’s not just Liam and Micheal that had a personal connection to the grief shown in the film, as James also lost his father when he was young.

‘The three of us had this sort of pain in our suitcases that we were bringing with us,’ the filmmaker recalled.

‘And then really weirdly when we were shooting the really more emotional scenes, we didn’t talk about it at all. I just let them get on with it.’

While grief is a hugely important part of the feature, there are also incredibly joyful and beautiful moments, not least because of the gorgeous Tuscany scenery.

‘At the time, I was always filming but not in the least bit in exotic locations,’ James laughed as he explained why he chose Tuscany. ‘I was in Northampton and all my friends were off doing Pirates of the Caribbean!’

The film beautifully balances loss and heartbreak with laughter and new beginnings, with James explaining he tried to take the drama ‘from a hopeful place’.

‘Normally, I feel like if you’re going to do drama, it’s pretty relentless and bleak and depressing,’ he pointed out. ‘And life isn’t really like that.

‘I think you laugh and you cry, and I wanted to try and do both. And I think that’s quite a challenge.

‘So it was really exciting to to get in and get behind the camera. And I hope I get to do it again at some point.’

 Made In Italy will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video exclusively from March 26.

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