Entertainment
Dame Helen Mirren still loves ex Liam Neeson ‘deeply’ but they weren’t meant to be together-Kim Novak-Entertainment – Metro
They dated in the 1980s.
Dame Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson lived together for four years in the 1980s (Picture: Rex)
Dame Helen Mirren has opened up about her former relationship with actor Liam Neeson, admitting the couple were never meant to be.
The actress, 77, dated the Taken star, 70, between 1980 and 1985, and while she admits she still loves Liam, they were not meant to be as a romantic couple.
Speaking in a new AARP The Magazine cover story via People, Helen admitted: ‘We were not meant to be together in that way, but we loved each other very, very much.
‘I love him deeply to this day. He’s such an amazing guy.’
Dame Helen also revealed that she has made a shirt for each and every man she has ever dated, including Liam, but joked that they were ‘very bad shirts’.
Other beneficiaries of Dame Helen’s terrible homemade shirts include Peter O’Toole and her husband, director Taylor Hackford, who she has been married to for 26 years.
The former couple have remained great pals (Picture: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)
Liam and Dame Helen had spoken about their relationship on The Graham Norton Show in 2018, revealing that they had lived together for four years after meeting on the set of Excalibur.
Dame Helen said at the time: ‘We didn’t date, we lived together for four years — we were a serious item for a while. Lucky me!’
Liam added: ‘Before I met her and we worked together I had read somewhere that if she fancied a guy she would imitate his walk behind his back and I turned around one day and she was doing that to me.
‘I remember being on the set and standing with Ciarán Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgana Le Fey costume and we both went, “Oh f**k”, and I was smitten.’
Dame Helen Mirren has been married to Taylor Hackford for 26 years (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock for SAG Awards)
After splitting with Liam, Dame Helen started dating director Taylor, 77, after the pair met during her audition for his 1985 movie White Nights, before getting married in 1997.
She admitted that while the Covid-19 pandemic was a heartbreaking time, it also had its upsides as it was the first time she and Taylor had an extended time to spend together.
Dame Helen explained: ‘I’ve worked every year since I was 20. Covid was the first time in the whole of my life I’ve not worked for six months.
‘[So many people] were suffering through that terrible, terrible time, but what was valuable for me was that I got to spend time with my husband and sit across the table from him every night for six months – which I’ve never done before – and not worry about or even think about work.’
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