The actor was ‘trying to get away’ from the controversy, Donald Glover revealed (Picture: Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Images)
Donald Glover has opened up about Liam Neeson’s cameo in an episode of Atlanta that came out last year, revealing that the actor originally turned the role down.
The idea behind the scene was inspired by Liam‘s 2019 racism controversy, when he admitted that after discovering that a friend of his had been raped, he walked the streets in the hopes of finding the attacker.
Speaking to The Independent, he said at the time: ‘I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some “black b*d” would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could… kill him.’
The Taken actor later apologised for his remarks, stating: ‘The horror of what happened to my friend ignited irrational thoughts that do not represent the person I am.
‘In trying to explain those feelings today, I missed the point and hurt many people at a time when language is so often weaponized and an entire community of innocent people are targeted in acts of rage.’
In 2022, three years after the controversy, the 70-year-old appeared as himself in the eighth episode of Atlanta’s third season, in an instalment titled New Jazz.
Atlanta has received several award nominations and wins, including Emmys and Golden Globes (Picture: FX/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
In one scene, he and Brian Tyree Henry’s Paper Boi have a conversation in a bar called Cancel Club, where Liam addresses the outrage that was sparked by his remarks in real life.
‘It’s good to know that you don’t hate Black people,’ Paper Boi says, to which Liam responds: ‘No, no, no… I can’t stand the lot of you. Well, now I feel that way. Because you tried to ruin my career. Didn’t succeed, mind you. However, I’m sure one day I will get over it. But until then, we are mortal enemies.’
Paper Boi asks: ‘But…didn’t you learn that you shouldn’t say s**t like that?’ to which Liam retorts: ‘Yeah. But I also learned that the best and worst part about being white is that you don’t have to learn anything if you don’t want to.’
During a recent conversation with GQ, Atlanta’s creator Donald, who also plays the lead role of Earn in the show, explained how Liam’s cameo came about, and how he convinced the reluctant actor to take part.
Nope director Jordan helped convince Liam to take part (Picture: Glen Wilson/AP/Universal Studios)
‘When I got in touch with him, Liam poured his heart out,’ the Childish Gambino rapper said.
‘He was like, “I am embarrassed. I don’t know about this. I’m trying to get away from that.” And I was like, “Man, I’m telling you, this will be funny! And you’ll actually get a lot of cream from it because it’ll show you’re sorry.”’
Donald recalled how Liam asked him to give him time to think about it, before sending him an email to say that he couldn’t go through with it.
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The Love Actually star revealed that he’d spoken to Morgan Freeman, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, which sparked a lightbulb idea for the brains behind Atlanta.
‘So I was like…Jordan Peele! I hit Jordan Peele up and I was like, “Look, man, I got this idea. He said that he trusted you. Tell him it’s a good idea!”’
According to Donald, Nope director Jordan found the idea ‘hilarious’ and spoke to Liam, resulting in the actor going back to the writer and revealing that ‘he talked to Jordan and his son and thought it’d actually be a good thing’.
Last year, Liam made another unexpected cameo in the third season of Derry Girls, shocking fans in the opening episode of the hit show’s final outing.
The actor showed up as Chief Constable Byers, a local member of the police force who interrogates the gang after they attempt to break into their school.
