I was smitten, Liam tells blushing Helen...30 years after love ended
LIAM NEESON and Dame Helen Mirren recalled their smouldering 1980s love on a TV chat show last night.
They shared a sofa on the Graham Norton Show, 33 years after their romance ended.
Neeson, 65, recalled he was instantly “smitten” when he met Dame Helen, 72.
The pair were working on the movie Excalibur, which was released in 1981.
Taken star Neeson said: “I remember being on set and standing with fellow actor Ciaran Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgana le Fey costume and we both went, ‘Oh **** ’ and I was smitten.”
The Irish star also admitted he had to fend off other suitors to win Dame Helen’s heart.
He said: “I think Ciaran was too but I was very smitten!”, which prompted a blushing Dame Helen to respond: “I never knew that.
“You’ve never told me that before – it’s amazing.”
Asked by Norton about their romance, which lasted for four years from 1980, Dame Helen stressed it had been a lot more serious than a little courting.
She said: “We didn’t date, we lived together for four years – we were a serious item for a while. Lucky me!”
It is not the first time The Queen actress – who has been married to director Taylor Hackford for two decades – has spoken about her relationship with Neeson.
She has previously admitted: “We loved each other. It was difficult to let go.”
Eight years after his relationship with Dame Helen ended, Neeson met his wife Natasha Richardson.
She died following a freak skiing accident nine years ago. The couple had two children, Michael, 22, and Daniel, 21, during a 15-year marriage.
Dame Helen, who has played the Queen in the Oscar-winning movie and in a 2013 theatre production of The Audience, confirmed she had no plans to reprise the role in Netflix series The Crown. She said: “No, I’m not. No, no. Done with that.”