Liam Neeson turned down James Bond role to placate future wife Natasha Richardson

Liam Neeson says he was asked if he was interested in playing James Bond in the early nineties, but turned down the chance to play the iconic role due to his late wife.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Ballymena-born actor cleared up longstanding rumours that he had turned down Goldeneye, the first Bond flick to star Pierce Brosnan.

He also confirmed that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli called him on several occasions to ask if he was 'interested' in the role.

As we now know however, Neeson still went on to become an unexpected action star in his mid fifties with the blockbuster Taken franchise.

Speaking to the US magazine, 70-year-old Neeson said: "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 [Natasha Richardson], 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.'

"So I would tease her by going behind her back, making my fingers as though I’m holding a gun, and then [hums the James Bond theme]. I loved doing that s***"

“She gave me a James Bond ultimatum,” he continued.

“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.”

Neeson and British actress Richardson were married in 1994, after meeting while performing in the play Anna Christie on Broadway the previous year.

Richardson, daughter of fellow actress Vanessa Redgrave, died tragically in 2009 at the age of 45 after she sustained a head injury during a beginner's skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort near Montreal.

The couple have two adult sons, one of whom is the actor Micheál Richardson and were married for 15 years until Richardson's death.