Mother’s Nature
The son of two Hollywood stars is going public with his passion for the planet
DANIEL Neeson is bona fide Hollywood royalty, but he’s not pursuing the family business.
Instead, the 23-year-old son of Liam Neeson and the late Natasha Richardson is busy launching the fourth collection of his clothing line Pine Outfitters. It’s an outdoorsy, eco-friendly brand of unisex long-sleeve and short-sleeve shirts (priced at $40-$55), as well as hats and beanies (all around $30), which he founded in 2015.
In October, he and his business partner Adam Millman (a former Tulane University classmate and fraternity brother) debuted a collaboration with the Dream Downtown hotel. They’re selling branded merch — such as a $65 long-sleeve shirt made of recycled water bottles — at the hotel to promote “sustainability and an active lifestyle,” Neeson, who goes by Danny, tells The Post.
He says his mother — who died in a skiing accident in 2009, when he was just 12 and she was 45 — looms large for him, because she always encouraged him to follow his passions.
“She was one of my biggest role models,” says Neeson. “She was always about ‘don’t ever feel like you have to be forced down a tunnel to fit in. Do what you want to do, but do it to your best and be generous with it,’ ” he says.
Neeson, who lives in Manhattan, grew up splitting his time between the Upper West Side and Millbrook, NY. He says he “always loved being outside,” whether he was fishing, hiking or playing hockey.
He studied theater in college, but despite his family’s considerable presence in the acting world — his grandmother is the legendary actress Vanessa Redgrave — he has never acted professionally.
Instead, he’s used his theater education to develop entrepreneurial skills.
“You have an idea, you work on the skeleton of it and then you present it,” he says. “And when you present it, you [make sure it] relates to people.”
But it was a moment in fifth grade that truly inspired him. When he learned about global warming, it gave him a “panic attack,” he confesses. “It really struck me [and] I’ve always been in tune with the environmental crisis” since then, he says.
So, during his freshman year of college, he launched the company, which now boasts some 20,000 followers on Instagram. For every product purchased, a tree is planted through the National Forest Foundation.
“I think it’s great that I caught the bug when I was young to do something different [than acting],” Neeson says.
In his free time, Neeson still loves spending time outdoors, but now he has girlfriend Natalie Ackerman, who works in marketing, by his side. The two met during their sophomore year at Tulane. When they exchanged information, they discovered a cute coincidence: Their phone numbers were just one digit apart.
“I’m the luckiest guy ever,” he says of their relationship.
As for the business, Neeson says he wants it to “grow,” but never lose sight of its environmental goals. “We want to be a part of that battle,” he says of building a more sustainable planet. “I don’t want this business to be about my money. I think it’s about building a community . . . and giving back.”
Neeson has the full support of his father, beloved for his roles in “Schindler’s List” and “Love Actually.” Dad Liam attended a starstudded event at the Dream hotel last week to fete the line’s debut, along with Bravo’s Andy Cohen, actress Kate Walsh and New Orleans Saints offensive lineman John Leglue.
“He loves wearing our hats,” says Neeson of his father. “He’s a very big hat guy, I guess to keep a low profile.”