“Liam Neeson”
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I feel like I want to get into talking to you guys. I really do. I miss you. Sean, I owe you a call. I know that you FaceTimed me the other night and I never called you back. And I'm just realizing that now. That's okay. And I miss you desperately. I miss you guys too. And are you okay in Chicago? Oh, William, thank you. Yes, I'm okay. I mean, other than the sirens going off every single day. Every fucking night. And the guy across the hall from us has a dog.

They leave their door open, and it barks so loud, it sounds like it's in our apartment. And then it gets all the dogs down the whole hallway going. Every dog starts barking. Have you talked to them about it? No. Or given them a hairy eyeball on the elevator at least? No, I don't. What are you guys about masks? Like people in this building. On dogs? No.

They are carriers. No, like some people in the building don't wear masks anymore and some people are like, oh, the mandate's over, so... I would like to do it based on how they look. Like, ooh, you need a mask. You know what I mean? But what else? I always forget to bring a meal to rehearsal, too, so I'm kind of hungry all the time. We only get 20-minute breaks.

So if I run home, isn't this an amazing story? If I run home... Super relatable. Maybe the soldiers in Ukraine would like to hear about your 20-minute breaks. Yeah, maybe they want to talk about your tech rehearsal. Snacks aren't great. Wait, are you going to start complaining about your blocking next? Yeah. Yes, thank you for bringing that up. Wait, take it up with the director. We don't want to hear about the blocking on your play. No, so I have 20 minutes. I don't know what to do. I never have... Anyway, I'm always hungry. Yeah. Yeah. Jason?

I don't have any complaints. I just feel for my fellow citizens around the world. Likewise. Sean, you would have loved it last night I had Jason's wife, Amanda, here at the house and his daughter, Maple. But no, Jason? To have dinner with my folks. And not Jason. No. No, because today is Saturday. Yesterday was a work day.

So you're starting dinner at 5 o'clock. That means I still got two hours of work left. By the way, what a joke says the guy who since January 1st has played 34 days of golf and none of them on the weekend, by the way, because he's not allowed to play on the weekend. Because that's family time. So let's talk about work days. Wait, isn't that a new, is that a new rule? It is a new rule and I feel good about it. And I'm also, a new rule is, this is also something our, our,

Citizens in strife around the world. Does it have to do with your Tesla? Go ahead. No. It's, I'm going to not play every day. Okay? Oh, wow. You know the term hero gets used a lot, but I mean, in this case. Listen, we actors, uh,

are, you know, it's not, we're not, it's, it's easy. Okay. And people that say, oh, it's so hard and the hours are so, please, we're so lucky to be doing what we're doing. But let me tell you something. When, when I run lines with Scotty, just from, to memorize lines, run lines, Tracy is like, you run lines like you memorize lines. And he, I have such a short temper with him and it's, it has nothing to do with him, but I'm like, okay,

Okay, so I come in and I say, oh, relax. Okay, then I say, but it's only four lousy hours. What can go wrong? And he says, no, it's... I go, go back. Go back to the previous line. Does he correct you on every word, every syllable? Yeah. And does he come to rehearsal and sit out in the audience? And does he... Do you go line in Scotty's there? No, for the actual performances. Did you imagine? Ken?

Can he maybe have like a fanny pack that's got snacks in it or something for you? I know. That's a good idea. Can you make me a fanny pack with snacks? A pack snack. You know, it's almost like he's walking you. Like he's a dog walker, but for you. And he's got a fanny pack and he could have some wipes and stuff for you. It's a snacky pack. What?

Scotty with a snacky pack. We tried to buy Sean that toilet too, and then it wouldn't work, right? Yeah. Jason and I wanted to buy you a fancy toilet. I know. That was so nice. Listener, so when we were on the tour, you learn a lot about someone when you're living with them. And sweet, sweet Sean, as privileged as he sounds with this past five minutes, he was completely unaware that the –

The toilets with the washlet has snuck up on him, and he'd never heard of it before. You know, those Toto toilets that, like, shoot a geyser in you. Well, no, I mean, people know about them. Not a lot of people have them, but, I mean, it's like it's this bizarre new technology in— It's a bidet built into the bath—

Yeah, so we tried to buy, Jason and I tried to, after learning, Sean didn't know. For his birthday. I came out of the bathroom, I was like in awe. I was like, oh my God, there's these switches, it can clean your ass, and then it blow dries your ass. We were staying in a hotel that had one, and he couldn't believe it. And we're like, come on, you never, so we know that he, while he's away in Chicago, he's doing some remodeling in the castle there in LA. And so we tried to arrange with his husband to get a new toy toy put in there, and it ended up being more expensive than the toilet itself. Toy toy.

You had to tear down the wall and go into the pipes. But it's the thought that counts, and you guys are so sweet to think of that. And I was going to get you guys Porsches, but it just didn't work out. Well, there's still time. There's still time. Maybe try again. It's the thought. Speaking of still time, we're running out of time because we have a great guest here who has been really biding his time waiting in front of us.

being so gracious. Sorry, that's my fault. And he, this is somebody who can relate to actor problems because this is a person who's been acting at a high level for longer than the three of us have ever, you know, even known what the hell was going on in the world. This is somebody who started on the stage to great acclaim, moved into films, has made...

countless films over the year at the highest level, great performances. Not Dick Van Dyke. Not only that, he and I have starred together, as it turns out, in three pictures together, which only brings him down and props me up.

and makes me look good. He's somebody that I've just admired for so long because he's such an incredible actor. And he's the star of The Nut Job, The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies. Oh, good lord. He's got a new film coming out in memory. You guys, it's Mr. Liam Neeson. That's a real movie star. Wow! Right?

Hi, Sean. Wow, good morning. Look at this. I did love listening to you. I did love listening to you. Sorry about that. Jason, you play golf. I have to tell you. Only because I'm trying to understand how the common man lives his life. He's sorry for you, he said. Did you hear that? He said that he already feels pity for you, Jason. I know, I'm embarrassed. But I do it for the mental anguish of it. To me, it's work.

It's very hard to do. Yeah, very believable. I still don't think. As George Bernard Shaw once said, it's a good walk ruined. Yeah.

That's right. It's true. That's part of the job, trying to stay positive. We've had our first George Bernard Shaw quote. You have already classed us up a million percent, Liam. Thank you so much for being here, man. It's such an incredible honor. I'm very honored myself, and I'm very, very fucking nervous. Don't be. Liam, let me start by this, because this is an area that Sean loves the most, which are stories from the theater. And you have a long history of performing in the theater for many years. Yes.

So, Sean, I'm going to give you the opportunity...

To right off the bat ask Liam a theater question, your most prized theater question. Well, now I'm put on the spot. First of all, I can't believe I'm talking to you. I know. I've never met you. This is so awesome. This is so cool. And I'm nervous a little bit. So my question to you is, what is your favorite tragic theater story? I've said so many of mine on here. I'm trying to think of another one. Well, I can tell you another one. I did a play with Kristen Chenoweth years ago. The listeners are so sick of me talking about it.

And at the end of the show, we come up for our bows, and I look over from opposite wings, and Kristen and I are supposed to come from opposite sides of the stage, meet in the middle, walk down the center, and take our bow together. Complicated. And I...

Never seen that before. So these are the curtain calls, huh? Yeah, walking through. The bows, right? Okay. Did you bump into each other? How do you avoid that? What were your two characters' names? Promises and Promises, right? Are those the two characters? What?

Keep going, Sean. Classy guest. So I look over and Kristen's not there. And I'm like, oh my God, everybody's clapping, waiting for us to come out. I'm like, where's Kristen? And I look over and she's dead, passed out on the floor, passed out on the floor. And I'm like, what the hell happened to Kristen Chenoweth?

And so I'm like, stage manager, I'm like, do I go out? Do I wait for her? What's happening? They're trying to revive her, get her back up. So I went out and took my bow by myself. You're thinking, wow, I'm getting double the applause today. So then she... What happened to her? She passed out because she didn't eat that day. So they gave her a candy bar and she like came back to... She did a whole show and then passed out at the end. Oh my gosh. When is the last time you did a live theater show?

Oh my god, 14 years ago I did a little Samuel Beckett piece called "A Joe".

It lasts about 25 minutes. I don't say a word. That's one of the reasons I took the job. And Ralph Fiennes was... It was an evening of Beckett pieces at Lincoln Center. That was the last time. And do you want to do it again? No, the muse has gone from me. It's left me completely. Really? Yeah, and it's...

I used to worry about it because I started off in the theater for four years, just nothing but theater. Did the odd play and the Crucible and Back at Peace. About three, four years ago, the Muse just left me. I was offered some stuff and it's just, I love seeing my friends do it. You're talking about the Muse for theater?

Muse for theater. Yeah. But, you know, I hear people say that about theater because the schedule is really, really challenging. But.

But the movies you are doing are so demanding. You cannot ask for a harder genre for you to do, and you do it. I can understand maybe one out of every five films you're out there doing all the action stuff. But my God, the amount of stamina that you must have and work ethic you have, discipline that you have, and the shape you must be in, it's so incredibly admirable. Yeah.

Well, thank you, Jason. A nice little three-act drama down the street. I mean, come on. You need a break. Yeah. Or maybe some little farce comedy, you know? Some sort of French farce, you know? Yeah, a bunch of doors slamming, a bunch of grab ass. Yeah, that stuff's hard to do, you know? It is, to a certain extent.

Or get yourself a podcast, Liam. Come on. Look how cozy this is. Liam, I'm going to tell you something. I'm 51, almost 52. He plays 36. He plays 36. Well, we won't talk about age, but I'll tell you this. I read a script the other day. They said, take a look at this. They said they're interested. And I read it. And the first scene said exterior knight. And I said, I'm not interested. That's a true story.

Liam doesn't care about that. Yeah, I mean, it does take a lot, those films you do. Look, we've all done it. You know, it takes a village, right? Yeah. I have a little routine when I'm doing one. I get up, I exercise for 30, 35 minutes maximum. That's it. No more than that. And...

When you're doing the junkets and stuff, say, oh, you do your own stunts. And I always say to them, please listen to me. I do not do my own stunts. I don't do that at all. I do my own fighting. That I like to do. But stunts, no. You know, jumping out of windows and falling over chairs. Wait, wait, wait. So you're doing your own fighting? Yeah, the fighting's no bargain. That's not simple. Yeah.

Yeah, but it's like learning a dance, Jason. You must have done stuff like that. I did. Actually, the last big fight I did was with Will Arnett on Arrested Development. It was supposed to be funny because it lasted so long. You know, two idiots that don't really know how to fight. They just end up on the floor wrestling. And they kept cutting back to the scene and we're still throwing. So we had to shoot it over the course of like, I don't know, it was like a 15-minute fight. It literally put me in the hospital. We had to shut down for a few weeks because I was so exhausted.

And this was 20 years ago. I'm a lot to handle. You'd say that. You're a lot. You got a real back on you. Sure. Yeah. Okay. You play golf every day? I play golf. Now, I only play nine holes a day. I can't walk 18. No, that's not true. But Jay, I asked you about that last, the last episode of the latest Ozark chunk. Yes. Where the guy comes in and beats the crap out of you. I'm like, was that you? And you're like, no, are you fucking kidding me?

No, I, uh, I, for a while there, I kind of thought, Oh no, I'm going to, if there's some kind of a stunt, I want to do it. It'd be kind of, and then, and then a stunt coordinator took me aside one day and he said, Hey guy, I know you're trying to do the right thing for camera and everything, but having it be your face, but you know, you're taking money out of this guy's pocket over here. It was just standing on the set, ready to double you. And he gets paid for every take. So if you just sit there and try to be a hero, this guy's trying to make a living too. And I was like, Oh,

Oh, so I learned that lesson early on. Liam, I'm sure you learned it way before I did. And it's going to make you look good. Exactly. Yeah, it's going to make you look good. Yeah, on top of it all. Yeah. So when Will kind of said that you guys are on nut jobs, you've got to look for some of those jobs sometimes that are nice and cushy, maybe just with a microphone, preferably like an animated film. Yeah.

even if it's on camera, maybe some sort of nice domestic, you know, dramedy or something.

Yeah, but I don't get to kill people, you know. You can have a dream sequence right in the middle of like a Thanksgiving dinner, you know. That's true. Liam, wait, you touched on something I wanted to ask you about, which was, you know, obviously you've done tons and tons of such phenomenal work in your life and your career. And, you know, one of the biggest ones out of all of them was, of course, Schindler's List.

and with Ralph Fiennes. And then here I am years and years later watching Clash of the Titans and

And it wasn't until the end of the movie, I was like, oh, wait, those two were in Schindler's List too. Like, that's how great you are. I completely forgot that you both were in another movie together. So do you have a relationship with Rafe? Like, did you know him? Did you build a friendship? No, no, Rafe, he's a really, really good friend. But I remember when we shot that, that was the first, we did two, Clash of the Titans and...

Wrath of the Titans, was it? And the first one was nearly 13 years ago. But when Rafe comes on, he's playing Hades, you know, the god of hell. And I'm Zeus, the god of gods. He comes and he's my brother. I couldn't do the scene. I couldn't look him straight in the eyes. I had to keep looking at his forehead. Why? To make you laugh? Why? Because he kept cracking you up? Well, we just...

You know, we're dressed in wigs and beards and all this stuff. And it's like, oh, come on. It was so good. I couldn't do the scene with him. I just had to keep looking at his forehead. There are people that you have that kind of relationship with, where you have that kind of chemistry that they just make you...

when I was doing Arrested, it was Tony Hale who played Buster, and we would often come into a scene together. And so we'd be on our start mark, and we'd be with the ADB looking at us, about to give us our cue. And like right as you could hear the dialogue, we're about to get the cue, Tony would immediately kind of go into his character of Buster. All of a sudden, he'd be standing there. Kind of tuck his chin, raise his eyebrows. Ooh, like this, get ready. And as soon as he did that, I couldn't...

I couldn't stop laughing. So I'd come into scenes laughing already because I've just corpsed offstage. You know what I mean? Oh, God. Now, speaking of people that are unprofessional and can't keep it together, Laura Linney, your friend, um...

Boy, we finally got through that show. How have you managed to stay friends with somebody that undisciplined and untalented for so many years? I know, I know. Come here. So when am I going to see Series 3, Part 2? I've seen Part 1. I love the show, by the way. This is Ozark. Ozark. Ozark. Thank you. Yes. No, it's coming the end of April. Okay.

I'm not sure when this is going to air, but probably right about now. And that Laura, my goodness, is she good. You guys have been friends for many, many, many years, right? Yeah. She's got so many great stories about you, and I'll bet you of her, but...

You know, it's just a sorry listener for just a second. The listener can relate to this. Anybody in any working experience, work environment, if you love the people that you work with, you don't spend a minute working ever. And she was just so incredible in sort of washing the whole set with her good vibes and positivity and warmth. Yeah.

Do you think she'd say the same about you? No, no, no, no, no. Between the two of us, we got to something right in the middle. You guys worked together originally. Is that how you met? Yeah, I'm trying to think...

Am I totally forgetting a big thing you guys did together or was it just a social? No, we did The Crucible on Broadway. Okay. And then we did a film called Kinsey. Yes. He was a sex researcher. Yeah, absolutely. And Laura was my wife in that. Then we did another film with Antonio Banderas. She was having an affair with him. We were married. She cheated on me in Ozark 2. I love that Liam is still angry about it. It's just a movie.

Especially Antonio Banderas. He's so ugly. I mean, it's like, come on. It's the hallmark of it. I don't want to embarrass you, Liam, but it's the hallmark of a great movie star that you barely remember how many movies you've done or what they are. And for us, as sort of like fans, we're like, this is so exciting to have somebody who... Will, do you know something? I'm not blowing smoke up my ass here. Just prior to Christmas past...

I finished my 100th film. No way. Wow. Wow. That's crazy. I couldn't believe it. Tony Hopkins used to say, anytime we see each other, give each other a hug. And I said, how's it going, Tony? And he says, great. He says, I haven't been found out yet.

I feel the exact same. But, Liam, I'm not great at math here, but if you did four movies a year for 25 years in a row, that would give you 100 films. So, I mean, to do... Listener, you know, doing a film as an actor is a three-month... So if you did four, I mean, that's working 12 months a year every year for 25 years. No, not really. I mean, I started...

My first little film was 1977, Jason. Yeah. So little parts count, obviously. Oh, yeah. Was that in Ireland or were you living in England when you did your first film? I wanted to get into this. I was actually living in Belfast. I was in the theater. There were bombs and...

Armoured cars going, it was just like, you know, it was a bit like Ukraine, I can imagine at the minute. And I was in this theatre called the Lyric Players Theatre and we played six nights a week.

During the height of the troubles, that theater never closed. A couple of times there were bomb scares. Wow. Soldiers would come in. We'd have to go out onto the street with the audience. Okay, all clear. Go back in again. And go back and do the show. What is that experience like? Because, you know, for us, obviously, you know, we're such pampered, you know, guys who have not had to experience anything like that. But for you,

To do a play in an environment like that, it must feel so far apart. Does it even feel like show business or does it feel like you're, what is your mindset doing a play day in and day out with real, you know, threat out just outside the doors? Well, my mindset was I was just so thrilled to be acting. Yeah. And getting paid for it.

And it was literally as simple as that. I was 24 when I turned professional and still pretty much a kid. All this shit was happening out in the streets and stuff. But I don't know. I felt I was in a bubble, my own bubble of joy doing these plays. We did a different play every four weeks. Wow. We'll be right back.

And now back to the show. So there are 24 who, who was the Liam Neeson for you at 24? Who were you looking at and going, my God, if I could have a career that lasts that long and hold that amount of rebel relevance that long and be at the top of my game at that age, now that I'm 24, I hope to be that age and doing that. Well, who was that? Who was that North star for you at that, at that point?

That's a good question. Well, certainly my ambition then would have been, I mean, I never thought of movies at all. Really? That was unattainable for some reason. But I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great to be in Britain's national theatre? Yeah.

Yeah. As a regular player, you know. That was about the height of it. Who was the big shot in the National Theatre at that point? Does it go back too far to say John Gielgud? Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Robert Stevens,

Colin Blakely, who was my hero, he was from the north of Ireland too. But it was that. It was based on theatre. Was Albert Finney doing work in the National Theatre at that point? No. In 1976, he did Hamlet, which was very, very good, which I saw. I'll bet. My God. Yeah, it just seems...

I've just been so lucky, Jason. And I genuinely mean that. It's just been... But you're doing theater and you say, and I'm glad Jason brought that up, and you said that you never had any ambition to do movies that felt like just probably so far away from where you were at that time. Sure, yeah. But then you do a film in Belfast, your first film, and then the first time you're on a movie set, do you think like...

Yeah, I could see. This seems about right. Did it feel comfortable? No, I didn't have that. The first movie was for an evangelical outreach who were making a film in Belfast, believe it or not, of Pilgrim's Progress. Wow. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. And apparently the little film is still touring Africa and stuff, you know, to get converts and stuff. Oh, wow. Wow. Evangelical...

religion. And I remember there's a place called Cave Hill that sort of overlooks the city of Belfast and I was playing

Jesus Christ. I'm crucified, so I was on a cross with a fake crown of thorns in my hands with makeup, false nails stuck in them. I remember thinking, why are they not rolling the camera? Why are they not saying action? The team of the evangelical people, they were all praying.

Oh, wow. I was down there and I was like, my arms were getting so shaky. And I'm looking down at Belfast and I'm seeing armored cars going up and down and sirens going and stuff and saying, this is fucking crazy. But I love it. Yearning for a nice little one act. Yes. And you're thinking, I finally made it. Yes. That's so funny.

So then you moved to England and you start your film career in England really in earnest at that point. No, I moved down to Dublin and was fortunate enough to do a couple of plays there. And then I joined the Abbey Theatre, which is Ireland's national theatre, I guess.

I was there for a while and I did a production of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Yes. And John Borman, the film director, who lives in Ireland, he came to see it and he was putting together this film Excalibur. Ah, yeah. Arthurian legends. And he asked me would I play Sir Gawain. And I was in this film and...

with shining suits of armor. Myself, my best buddy, Ciaran Hines, was... -Wow. -...Sarlotte. And, uh...

And the bug really got me down. I thought this is just the best. But it must be tough. I mean, you started your first film role, you're playing Jesus. I mean, everything after that is kind of a step down. I mean, when he comes to you, he says, do you want to play this knight? You're like, guy, I was Jesus in the last one. How do you even prepare an audition to play Jesus? I mean, practicing your faces in the mirror playing Jesus Christ, I would not really know where to go. How did he even research that?

I don't know how I can see the gentleman's face, Mr. Anderson. I think it was Ken Anderson who was in charge of this little outreach. And I didn't do an audition. I just met him and he knew I was Catholic, Irish Catholic. And we never really spoke about professional questions. And this shoot was only about three weeks or something, you know.

You just reminded me there, I had a vision of, Will, didn't you play Jesus Christ unarrested for one of your illusions? Didn't Job had like some sort of a religious themed illusion? And I remember you in some sort of a loincloth. Yeah, and then I went into the cave and I was going to come back and then I got stuck in there.

And started whining. Yeah, it was a really, it was a very, not a very well thought out illusion by my character. And you ate nothing but plums and turnips for a few weeks just to prepare for that scene, right? And they ended up finding me because I got, there was a false sort of back on the cave that I put on the stage and then they ended up

They were-- One of those storage facilities, and they were doing one of those faux--

you know, those shows where they go into storage facilities and they auction off all the stuff and they find this rock and they find me living in there. Oh, boy. Sort of months later, I've been stuck in this cave. And it was very thin at the time. And then, but I, so Liam, you mentioned Tony Hopkins and for Tracy in Wisconsin, by the way, Liam, if you're not, I don't imagine you're a listener of the podcast, but Tracy is Sean's sister in Wisconsin. So anytime we mention something that people might not know, we talk to Tracy and explain to her

Specifically the inside baseball of showbiz. Yeah. So Tracy, Tony Hopkins is Sir Anthony Hopkins. And you worked together the first time I imagine on The Bounty. Is that right? That's right. It was The Bounty and we shot it in Morea, which is an island, beautiful island just off Tahiti.

And, oh, my God, I turned 31, so I turned 70 in June of this year, so that's a bunch of years ago. First of all, you look incredible. Please let me be as, yeah, at 70. Yeah, you look incredible. My God, you look great. I know. But so you're there, and you've only made a few films at that point, am I right? You've made sort of five or six films? Yeah, I'd done some stuff in Ireland and so on.

some miniseries in England. But now you're there and you're in Tahiti with Tony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. Tony and Mel, Daniel Day, Lewis, a whole bunch of great British actors. You had trouble casting it, huh?

Real trouble. Yeah, but you made do. What was that experience like? I loved that. I bring it up just because I loved that film so much. I remember as a youth, I watched it many times. Oh, gosh. Yeah, it was good. It was six to eight weeks, and we all just loved Tony because he, as well as Captain Bly, he played brilliantly. Mm-hmm.

He took care of us, he took care of his crew. And a lot of the crew were guys just fresh out of drama school in England, you know. First job and there you are in Tahiti, you know. But Tony just took care of us and I'll never forget that quality he had. And we had a lovely, a great director, Roger Donaldson, from New Zealand.

But he and Tony didn't get on terribly well because he would do endless takes. I remember one day, 27 takes of hoisting the princess, Tahitian princess up onto the bounty. Oh, God. Like 27 takes and the sun beating down and stuff. And...

What's the point of my story? It was just great. It was a great experience. But we all started developing that. What's the opposite of cabin fever when you're surrounded by water all the time? There's a scientific, there's a medical name for it. So if somebody sent you out a newspaper from Britain or Ireland, you would read this from cover to cover.

And then someone would, you'd give it to your friend to read. By this stage, the newspaper's a week old, 10 days old. And then you'd start, I'd say, Richard, where's my paper?

I said, "But you read it, you finished it. It doesn't matter. I want it back." So there's, you know, we were there for three months. So we were just all starting to get on each other's nerves. - Yeah. If you watch "The Bounty" today, do you think you would have notes for your performance? As your style of acting changed over the years, that presupposes that you watch what you do. Are you one of those actors that watches what you do?

Because some don't like to. No, I don't. I like to see it at least once. I mean, if I'm playing the lead, I'd watch it at least a couple of times. But that's it. This is while you're shooting, right? You'll watch one of the playbacks to see if you're kind of on the right track?

No, I don't do that, Jason. I don't. Unless it's some technical thing where the director needs me to be on the left and I think, no, I should be on the right of this character, for example. But you'll watch the final product, though? Yeah, yeah, I would watch it.

So what about your style? I just ask that because I get so cringy when I look at the old stuff that I've done. I say, oh, my God, I do it so differently today. Because you have such a wide body of work, I'd imagine it would be pretty fun or scary or what for you to look at all the stuff you've done way back when. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah.

It's overacting, isn't it? I don't know if you ever feel that. Anytime I see something, I think, oh, God. That's what I notice I try to do is do less and less every year. Yeah, yeah. If I do something, I used to, when I was younger, would watch...

Would watch it once and now I don't watch anything I do and if somebody comes up and he says that was really good I'll check it out. But if nobody says that to me, I don't need to see it Sean you were on a very popular Comedy sitcom for many years the Millers. Yes, the Millers that we run together and

You were like in one of the top shows for many years, and it would be hard to avoid that. Let me ask you this. So how did you avoid that? You must have seen episodes of your show when it was on the air because it was kind of everywhere. Yeah, Liam, take a seat just for a second. I would...

No, I would want, I would, yes, you're right. The reruns when they used to have reruns and all that stuff. It is hard to avoid, but the reboot of the Will and Grace three seasons, I haven't seen one episode. Really? Just like everybody else? I was there. Just like everyone else. I heard that. So you wouldn't have viewing parties, Sean, of your stuff? No, God, no. Maybe when I was like 27 and I was on it. Liam, I want to ask you something. You know, because you mentioned 100 films, it's just an unbelievable accomplishment. There has to be an award for that or something.

or we'll make one for you and send it. And by the way, that includes narrating documentaries and stuff like that. Yeah, but that's... And let's not forget the one you did with my sister called Satisfaction where she played a little rock and roll star. Wait, is that it? Oh, yeah. Is that true? Oh, yeah. She played the lead of a band. And what did you... I forget. Oh, I saw that movie. Did you play the manager, the band manager or something? No, I was a retired ex kind of Keith Richards sort of guy. Uh-huh.

Yeah. I think they wanted me to manage them or so, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You did not submit that that year for Academy consideration, did you? No. No. No. Wait, Jason, I remember that film. That was your sister's kind of breakout attempt from Family Ties. Yeah, I remember that film too. I think Julia Roberts was in the film too, I think. Julia was in the film too? What was it, like 30 years ago? Yeah, it was a long time. It must have been. I know Julia was 19. Wow. So that made me, I was 32.

How do you, you're crazy with numbers. How do you remember 31 years old, 19 years old? He's like Will Arnett. Are you one of those people that can remember what you did like April of last year versus June of last year? No, no, that I can't. Will Arnett can't. I can't, yeah. Names, names too. I'm the older I get, I have real trouble with names. Even if I'm calling my sisters, I have three sisters. I can't.

Because their names confuse me. It's tough. I know. Jason's the same with names. Well, Jason's the same with faces. I was just going to say. I think I discovered my smallest dog yesterday who, you know, we've had for eight years now. I think he's got facial blindness, right? Whatever that thing is. He barks at me every day.

And usually about 30 seconds after he just saw me last. And he'll look at me like I'm a stranger that's just broken in through the side window and I'm coming in to do a lot of damage. I'm like, guy, I just fed you. The actor in you wants desperately for him to recognize you. Please. I walk around with my head shot and it's signed. He doesn't want it.

I watched, you always have a stack of headshots with you, which I admire. I think that takes a lot of guts. Just to try to disarm some sort of unfriendly. Yeah. But Jason, your dog's interesting. Maybe it's, that is interesting. I adore dogs. I do too. That's fascinating. I do too, but not this one. Jason, by the way, speaking of your dog, I met this guy yesterday, you know, Frank, your dog,

A top dog? Your top dog. I met a guy yesterday, and this is a true story. I forgot to tell you what he said. My dog is Jason's dog Frank's brother.

And I said, no kidding. And he said, yeah, the guy who I... Oh. First of all, my dog's name is Hank. Nice to meet you. Hank, right. Not Frank. I know. And so his dog is related to my dog, Hank. What's my dog's name? Your dog's name is Petrel. Nice chai. Peter. You didn't remember either. It's a... Bell.

Bella. Bella. Bella. So, yeah, now that's my other dog. He recognizes me right away. He's very loving, very lovely. I don't have a problem with him. Sean, we all cut you off. Sean, go, please. No, I just was interested in our guest. Favorite color, Liam. Did I guess it? Did I guess it, Sean? No. Now, you've told us your funny theater story. What's your funny movie story?

He's the worst, Liam. I'm so sorry. I don't want to get into movie stories, but I'm surprised Sean hasn't asked this yet because I'm fascinated, one of the great films of all time, Schindler's List, and how that experience came to be for you. Yeah, well, I was going to ask that too. I know. I know everybody wants to know it, but I don't know any stories, and it's one of my favorite films. Yeah. I was living out in Los Angeles at the time, and I...

My agent sent me this script, which was just breathtakingly horrible and beautiful and incredibly well-written. And I knew Steven Spielberg a little bit. Was it Eric Roth or Steven Zalian? One of the two? Steve Zalian. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Jason. Steve Zalian. And I had read for Steven with a bunch of kids when he was casting Empire of the Sun and

Christian Bale's first movie, right? I guess he remembered me. So I was asked to go in and meet him for Schindler's List. And I had, you know, because it's set in the 1940s, I hired a 40s suit and I tried to keep my hair short and stuff. And I spent about two, two and a half hours with Stephen. And Stephen had a camera. It was just he and I in a room. And I prepared a couple of little speeches from the film, the script, and everything.

And then after it was over, he said, thank you very much. And I felt great. I thought, well, if I don't get this, I've spent two and a half, three hours with one of the great movie makers of our time. And then I went to, yeah, I went to New York after that to do a play. I had to get on the stage again. I thought you were going to say, then I went to Ed DeBevix and got a drink. So you go to New York and do a play. How long do you make you wait?

Well, it was quite a few weeks. I was doing this play where I met my wife. The play was called Anna Christie. I met my wife and Stephen and his wife, Kate, and Kate's mum came to see the play. And they came backstage afterwards, which was very sweet of them. And I opened my door and I was half undressed and stuff. I said, oh my God, Stephen, I'm sorry, let me put a robe on or something. And Kate's mum was quite emotional about

quite teary after the performance, the play. And I went and just gave her a hug. Apparently, on the way, when they left and they were driving back home, Kate said to Stephen, that's just what Schindler would have done. Now, Stephen told me, no, it was your audition, you know, that got you the part. But I like the story of, you know, that's what Schindler would have done. What's the great quote from the man who shot Liberty Valance when...

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. I like to think it's because I hooked Kate's mom. That got me the part. Yeah, that's great. And now, a word from our sponsor. And now, back to the show. Working with, you've worked with so many great directors. Can you remember anything that, from any of them, I imagine Spielberg would be right near the top of it, that really kind of took your breath away, like,

That is the difference in great directing versus good directing. Is there anything that was super noticeable about what he or any of the other incredible directors you've worked with have done, their ability to make a set comfortable, the way in which they work with the crew, anything that stands out, maybe even specifically about Stephen with that film? Because it was just so finely done.

It was interesting with Stephen because it was the first film he had done without using a storyboard. Normally he always uses a storyboard and you can go up and see the cartoons drawn of what you're going to shoot. Yeah. He didn't. And he, you know, he was telling the story of his, his people. Yeah. His Jewish people. And he was incredibly nervous. He felt the responsibility of the story he was telling. Yeah. And I remember the first day, uh,

We finished the play here in New York on Sunday, Sunday afternoon. I flew out on Monday and as far as my memory, as far as I can remember, it was either Tuesday morning or the Wednesday morning, like 5.30 in the morning. We were at the gates of Auschwitz, the real Auschwitz in Poland. And I think the World Jewish Congress, I think that's right, didn't give Stephen permission to shoot inside Auschwitz. But...

The production design team did a brilliant job. We shot outside of Auschwitz, but made it seem as if it was inside Auschwitz. Right, I remember that story. And I was dressed in a big fur coat and hat, and nice and warm, even though it was unbelievably cold. And this train was coming in, and all these extras were coming out as Jewish people and German extras with guard dogs. And it was terrifying. It was terrifying.

And I remember I was waiting to do my bit and I walked down, you know, by the barbed wire fences and looking inside at the huts that, you know, the Jewish people were crammed into all those years ago. And I was just looking and Branko Lustig, who was one of the producers, he's dead now, God rest him, but he came up to me and said, how do you feel? And I said, yeah, I'm okay, Branko. You know, I'm warm enough and...

just looking forward to starting you know and we were looking at the huts and he pointed out to a hut and said see that one there third one from the left i'm making this up now but he said that's where i was no way at the age of six well i just lost it yeah i lost it my knees started to shake and i thought this isn't acting this isn't a movie this is

This is a piece of history we're telling here, and I'm not worthy. I just kept saying to myself, I'm not fucking worthy. I'm a fucking Irish actor. I should go back to Ireland, go into the theatre. What the fuck am I doing here? Dressed up in this big fur coat, here to save these Jewish people. It was terrifying. But Stephen was great. And there's a little scene where I pull one of these girls, little Jewish girls up,

Because these prisoners shouldn't have been sent to Auschwitz. They're supposed to be working in my factory because Oskar Schindler had this armaments factory. And he was there to save their lives. Otherwise, they were going to die in Auschwitz. So I go up to this guard and say, how dare you do this? These are my people. They have to go back. And I'm shaking. And I pulled a little girl up. And I was doing it too gently because she was freezing, this little actress.

And Stephen came over to me and said, you've got to just, listen, stop the niceness. Grab her. Pull her up. Her life's at stake here, you know. So I had to, I apologized to her. I said, look, I'm going to grab you quite roughly and pull you up so that this guard sees you. She was only about seven or eight years of age. And I'm supposed to say to the guard, I need this little girl, those small hands so they can,

clean the inside of metal casings for the armaments. But I could never quite say the line right. You're speaking in German at this point, right? Supposed to be, yeah. But in English.

But anyway, I'm rambling, Jason. They're all different. I love this. All the directors are different. Listen, Liam, you just reminded me, the first time I saw that film, because I've seen it a few times, like a lot of people, and so incredibly moving hearing you talk about it. I can't imagine feeling that. And it comes across, that sense of responsibility that you felt in that moment. I remember I was at the theater, the old Chelsea Theater's

I don't think it's called that anymore, but on 23rd at 8th Avenue. I was living in New York. Oh, yes. Yeah, and I remember I was seeing that film and there was that moment where the chaos of everybody coming off the train and stuff and everybody's freaking out. Nobody knows what's going on. And at that very moment in the theater itself, the fire alarm went off. So they've got those little lights that are blinking. And there's a sound going, and the blinking. And it was almost like it happened... Wow.

you know, that it was part of the film, and people started freaking out in the theater, and people were openly weeping because it just heightened an already very heightened moment. Yeah. And it made everybody...

And it forever changed the way... It was just such a visceral thing to actually have happen in that moment. Yes. Yeah. What do you get into that is not really, really hard work like you usually do? Yeah, are you still boxing too? Is that part of your regimen? I have a bag. Well, I have a gym and I use a bag sometimes, but...

I just like to read. I'm an avid reader, you know? Really?

Wow, you guys are-- we're very similar, Liam. Easy, yeah. No, Liam and I are very similar. I like to read, and I also have a bag right out the door here. Jason has a bag, but he keeps it behind the toilet, and he just goes in there for a couple minutes at a time. Or he plays past the bag with one of his Hollywood friends. But don't use too much of it. Yeah, I got to get through the night. Yeah? Liam, I would like to ask this question. What drugs have you dabbled in? Because here's the thing.

Here's the thing. He's our secret weapon, Liam. He's the best. Keep going. Sorry, Sean. No, please. When you're doing, like you said, 100 things, like 100 films, whatever, docs and everything, and you're traveling and the time changes and the night shoots and this stuff, when you were younger, you're like, how am I going to get through this? You had to have partaken into something to get through all of those things.

Many many films of just endless. Are you Cindy Adams? What is going on? I'll talk to you about that. We've talked about the drugs we took I took tell Rona Barrett what the last time you participated in in some sort of drug use

You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I'll bet the way you stay up and peppy nowadays is all that exercise. I'll bet you eat well. It sounds like you're staying nice and sane with lots of reading. It doesn't sound like you're doing a lot of things to slow yourself down or hurt yourself, huh? No, that's a bit – it's very boring. I mean I do – I fly fish. I love to do that whenever I get a chance. Oh, really?

We should hook you up with Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel. He likes to fly fish around. Jimmy is, yes. I'm going to go to Jimmy's lodge sometime this year. When?

I don't know when. I was supposed to go last year. There's a big group of us going in a few months. We're going to send you the invite. Come on up. We're going to go this summer. And you can teach me. Are you really? Yeah, I swear to God. It looks spectacular. It's stunning. He's really done a great job with it. Oh, I can't wait. Oh, that's terrific. I can't wait. Wait, Sean, you still want to know about Liam's drug use, right? No. Sorry, Sean. No, no, no. I...

You don't have to answer his garbage questions, Liam. It's interesting. No, it's fair enough. I'm not trying to avoid it. I just...

Certainly when I was in Ireland in the theater, after shows we'd go to the local pub, you know. I adored Guinness. Absolutely adored it. Yeah. And then you turn a certain age and it sticks to you. Do you know what I mean? You start putting on weight and it's like, oh my God. Yeah. And I switched to red wine. I absolutely adored that. Yeah. That puts on less weight, but the hangover's not as fun. Right? Yeah. All that sugar. I stopped drinking eight.

Yeah, just over eight years ago. Wow. I must say I don't miss it. Same here. Jason, we don't drink. I don't drink basically out of vanity. I can admit that. But that's okay. What's the remaining vices for all of us? I mean, it's pathetic with me. It's like sugar and like crunchy, salty snacks. And, you know, Jay. Yeah. Golf? Golf.

No, pot gummies. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, gummies. I mean, is that a vice? I don't know. It's legal nowadays, right? Have you tried those, Liam? Have you tried the gummies with the THC in it? And the CBD? No, I have gummies with the CBD on a little bit of melatonin. I take those every night.

Yeah. Puts you right out. I do have trouble sleeping. Jason's got some other stuff for you, and the first one's free, he says. First one's free. I'm just going to stay on afterwards. Let me get your P.O. box or something. Do people still use P.O. boxes? You like weed. You like to smoke weed every once in a while. Well, I haven't smoked in years. I can't smoke it anymore, but I do eat the gums. The gummies as well. You don't mind that. And then what's your other advice? You don't drink coffee. Do you drink coffee? Liam, are you a coffee guy? No, I give up caffeine.

I know, so fucking boring. No, you're very disciplined. And I'm constantly this. It's a mug. What is that? Okay, it's a Stanley mug. I adore them. It keeps my black deeps.

decaf tea hot for five or six hours. Oh. And it's also my little security blanket. Do you know what I mean? I take it on set. I try and get it into every movie. Oh, you do? You try to get it? Do you ever smash guys in the face with it because you're in these acts? Including Clash of the Titans. That's going to happen. That is going to happen.

What are you... Are you doing anything currently that you're embarrassed of? Any crappy TV you're watching? Any... You say you read a lot. Are you reading a comic book that you're not proud to reveal to anybody? No. Um...

I'm still into my Nordic noir crime. Oh, no, here comes Will. Like Nesbo and those guys? Yeah, Nesbo's good. Henning Mankell, he passed away about four years ago. He was extraordinary. And I just played Philip Marlowe in my last film,

so I, I had never read, much to my shame, Raymond Chandler before, so I, I, I read most of his stuff for preparation, I guess. Will has met his match with the smokiest voice on this podcast. Yes. Jesus. Do you guys do any voiceover work? We've done three, we've done three films together, it should be, and the other, and we've never met, and also, uh, we were talking before about Ray Fiennes, uh,

He also was in Lego Batman and played Alfred to my Batman. And we had a lot of scenes together. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, and we have yet to meet. And I'm just such a fan. I can't wait. Liam, do you do any voiceover work other than the animation every once in a while? Are you the voice of any particular product on television? Do you do any commercial stuff?

You know, because Will talks about GMC trucks all the time. And lucky for them, he's still doing it. I don't. I like doing documentaries. And I've done quite a few of those. But products, no. You should. My God. Liam, you would clean up. Have you done any of the Ken Burns documentaries? Yes, I have, actually. During lockdown, I did...

Oh, there's one on Anne Frank that's coming out. Oh, that's cool. I played Anne Frank's father. Just a few lines. And the current one on Benjamin Franklin, I think, has come out. I have a small part. Is that one out yet or no? Not yet. Ken Burns is a genius. Yeah, he's been on the show. He was an incredible guest. We had him on. You did? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's so erudite. Did you see the Yali episode?

Muhammad Ali one? I haven't seen that one yet. I have to say, Muhammad Ali was, is, always will be my idol. Always was.

Yeah, that documentary is incredible. The one he did on World War II is incredible too, called The War. World War II, but the American Civil War, I have towards that at least once a year. Yeah. It's incredible. And it came out, I don't know, 25 years ago or something. Well, I love that you love Muhammad Ali because you were, and I mentioned before, you did box a little bit, amateur boxer for a couple of years there. Yeah. Yeah, I started when I was nine. I think I had my last fight when I was like 17 or something. Wow.

Oh, my God. That's old enough to get hurt.

Yeah, it was starting to hurt. Yeah, because kids punch each other all the time, but then you become a teenager and you've got to really be pissed off if you're going to get into that because you can get hurt. But boxing, so you were boxing as a young adult or adult, right? Well, at the age of 13, 14, I started to shoot up. I mean, I'm 6'4". That's amazing. Then I guess I was about 6'3", or something. And the punches were, yeah, they were starting to hurt, you know?

And I remember once coming, we had a tournament in our little local parochial hall in my hometown back in Ireland. And I was boxing this guy and I actually won the fight, but I felt my heart of hearts. I didn't win that fight. But when I came out of the ring, my trainer said, OK, Liam, go on downstairs and put your clothes on. And I said, OK.

And I was... And fix your face. But I didn't know what he meant. Clothes.

-Oh, no. -Go down. It was weird. And that was like a kind of a strange concussion, you know? So that was my last fight. I knew enough to think, "Fuck this. I'm getting out of this." You know, I did a-- A friend of ours, Lisa Kudrow, produced this show called "Who Do You Think You Are?" and it traces your ancestry. Did she hit you hard in the face during the shooting of that? And all of my ancestors are from Ireland. I'm Irish as well.

And we went over to Ireland. Everybody is a drunk and a thug. Everybody fought and just fights. Well, there we go. There's a great quote. Thanks, Sean. No, of my ancestors. Thanks, Sean. Of my ancestors. Oh, your ancestors. Yeah. Not everyone in the country. No, not everybody Irish. But all my ancestors were just thugs and drunks. And it's like, why is everybody? I don't know. Everybody just seems to be, loves to be in fights. Where are they from, Sean? Where do your family hang? Dingle and... Oh, Dingle. Beautiful. County Kerry.

And, uh, yeah, all around. You ever go back there, Sean? Just for that, the show I did. Just to fight. Just to fight. It's so pretty over there, right? Oh, it's unbelievable. I think it's like the... Oh, Dingle, Dingle's very, very special. My grandfather's from Dingle and, uh,

Beautiful fruit from there, the dangleberries. Have you tried? No, Will. I'm thinking of something else. You are. Liam, we've taken way too much of your time. We could talk to you forever. You're just such a fascinating guy and one of those, just such a great performer, and I'm just in awe of your talent. Oh, shut up.

Thank you for saying that. That was true. He's such a kind, kind man too. So thank you for spending some time with us on your off day here. Thank you, Liam. Jason, can I say to you, I know I said this to you before when I saw you at the Garden a couple of years ago, three years ago or something. Please give...

Victoria, your mom, my love. Now he's showing off. This guy is the nicest guy in the world. He meets my mother one time on a Pan Am flight. She was a flight attendant for Pan Am. Yeah. 20 years later, he runs into me. He's never met me before, but I guess she had mentioned when she had met him that I was her son.

So this is 20 years later. We're back at a Ranger game at Madison Square Garden. And I see Liam Neeson. I'm like, oh, my God. I'd totally forgotten that my mother had said anything that she'd met him. He stops me. He says, hey, hey, you're Jason. I met your mother X number of years ago on a plane. And how is she? Is she doing? Remembered her name? It just knocked me out. And then when I told my mother that, she cried for a week. Wow.

So thank you so much for being such a kind man. Oh, please. And Justine too. Please, please give them my love. I will tell her for sure. And it's something, and I can't quite remember Jason, but

It was a flight from either Los Angeles to London, Pan Am, which doesn't exist, of course, or from London to L.A. I can't remember. And I was just, I was very vulnerable, not because I have a fear of flying. I don't. Something was happening. And for some reason, Victoria, your mom, spotted something in me.

And she just took care of me. Yeah. She'd bring me tea and check on me every so often. And I'll just never forget it. You know, and I was... She was... Look at both these guys. Very special. Just writing jokes. As soon as you said, take care of me, both of them wrote about six jokes in four seconds. Well, luckily he followed up and said with a cup of tea. With a cup of tea. They put their pens down. I didn't need to, yeah. No, she was very accommodating. Yeah.

Well, that's very sweet. It's so great. And again, Liam, such a fan and thank you so much for your time. It was such an honor. Thank you. It's an honor to talk with the three of you. Thank you so much. Can you say hi to Laura if you talk to her before I do? I sure will. I love her so much. She's going over to Ireland, I think, in May to shoot a film. I'm going over there to shoot a film at my...

Best dear friend, Kieran Hines. Oh, yeah. Worked on a shooter film on Donnie Gole. You're not killing anybody in that, are you? Oh, yeah. You are? Yeah, of course. Quite a few. Quite a few, he said. Why do you think he took the part? Because the Pope are Catholic. Come on. The great Liam Neeson, thank you so much, our friend. Thank you, pal. Thanks, guys. So nice of you to do this. Thank you, Liam. That's great. Thanks, boys. Take care. Bye-bye, pal. See you later.

Oh, the great Liam Neeson. When he came on the screen, I was like, what? That's so... What? Liam Neeson? I know. He's so, like, iconic. It's so crazy. When I was like... I wanted to have him on the show, and then they said... And Michael MGT said, yeah, we're gonna have Liam Neeson. He's gonna do it. I thought, like...

Is this really going to happen? That's crazy. Yeah, how'd you do that, Willie? I don't know. I have no idea. I think that he thought, you know, I mean, he knew you a little bit and he was such a fan. He talked about seeing us at the Garden another time and he wanted to come say hi and he did not. And his new movie, Memory, comes out April 29th, which is... God, he's made a remember thing. I didn't even get a chance to ask him about Star Wars.

I know, Sean. Too bad there's not enough Star Wars in the world. I know, thank God. It's such a shame that we never had an opportunity to talk about fucking Star Wars. He was in so many Star Wars movies. And then he was like, he was one of those...

stormtroopers in force awakens and you spent your time with wrath of the titans the sequel to clash of the titans that's right you're gonna lose you're gonna lose your card i swear i loved i i really out of deference to you i i wanted to start it off by asking about theater stories because thank you because he started in the theater i know i love that thank you yeah i love that i love

You'd think people would have, like, at the ready. Well, it turns out, it does start to feel like the only embarrassing things in the theater happened to you. Yeah. And Kristen Chenoweth. And Kristen Chenoweth. And the time that you poisoned Kristen Chenoweth. I forget how the story went. Maybe she just had an anxiety attack because the curtain call was such complicated blocking. So let's just go back. So you came from either side of the, so it was sort of like a by entrance? Was it a by entrance? Oh, a what? A by entrance.

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