In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Liam Neeson reveals a funny story about his young son hugging R2-D2 on set of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Liam Neeson remembers his young son arriving on the set of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and immediately running over to R2-D2 and wrapping the metallic droid in a hug. Neeson’s role as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn introduced him to the world of Star Wars, but since his role as an ex-CIA agent on a mission to save his daughter with 2008’s action film, Taken, he’s become more well known for his roles as a gruff action heroes. Fans of Neeson’s work have created several jokes around the fact that, inevitably, everything will rest on the shoulders of Neeson’s character, and he’ll have to single-handedly take down the terrorists, gangsters, or whoever dares to stand in his path. However, Neeson recently clarified that as he’s gotten older, his time starring as the hero in thrilling action flicks is likely to come to a close, seeing as he’s approaching his 70s. But that still hasn’t stopped the actor from starring in two action films this year, Blacklight, which came out in February, and Memory, which hits theaters on April 29.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Neeson brought up a sweet memory about his son finding a friend on the set of Phantom Menace when asked if McGregor’s return to the Star Wars universe brought up any memories for Neeson about that time in his life. He immediately recalled a funny story from set about holding his two-year-old son Michael in his arms and Michael reaching out toward R2-D2 until Neeson relented and put him down. Next thing he knew, his son was waddling over and hugging R2-D2, which Neeson thought was “just so cute.” Afterwards, he told director George Lucas the heartwarming story, who responded that “R2-D2 has that effect on kids.“ Read his full comment below:
“Yes. Oh, it does. And I know Ewan’s doing the series. Yeah, I cannot believe it was 24 years ago that we shot the film in London. My gosh. I remember my son. I’ll tell you a funny story. My son, Michael, was two. His nanny brought him out to visit me on set and it was lunchtime. I held him in my arms and took him around the set and there was R2-D2, just sitting parked. My son looked at this strange piece of metal, in my arms, and just went, “[stretches arms out]” So I had to let him down and he waddled over and started hugging R2-D2. I thought it was very interesting. He was two. He knows nothing about Star Wars, saw any of the movies. It was just so cute. I remember telling George Lucas after lunch, I said, “I brought my son on. He had to go down and hug R2-D2 and it was really touching.” And George said, “Yeah. R2-D2 has that effect on kids.” And I just thought it was very, very sweet, so it reminded me of that.”
Even at the incredibly young age of two, Neeson’s son was so drawn to the shiny blue and silver hull of R2-D2’s body that he just had to run over and give him a hug. Michael wasn’t aware of any Star Wars lore, he just wanted to befriend the droid, and in turn, highlighted the inherent charm that the character design gives off to children. Some say that children are the best judge of character, and seeing as R2-D2 has been a heroic companion in all nine Star Wars films, Michael’s intuition was no exception. The story Neeson told alongside Lucas’ reaction is very touching, and it’s apparent why it would be the first thing to come to Neeson’s mind when thinking about his time on the set of The Phantom Menace.
We look forward to finding out if Neeson returns as a Force ghost in the upcoming Disney+ series Obi Wan Kenobi, staring on May 27th.
