Liam Neeson has had a past filled with violence and heartache

Liam Neeson found himself at the centre of a huge scandal this week as he shockingly revealed he set out to kill a “black b*****d” in an act of revenge after somebody close to him was raped.

The Taken star, 66, made the shock confession while promoting his new film, Cold Pursuit, and was hit with a barrage of furious backlash.

Liam was slammed by many former fans and famous people for his comments, with critics including Lily Allen, Piers Morgan and Nadia Sawalha speaking out – but he stubbornly insisted he is “not racist” and regrets his previous actions.

However, a closer look at the actor’s past reveals examples of violence, revenge and tragedy – from Northern Ireland’s Troubles to punching a pupil when he was a teacher.

The Troubles

Liam Neeson grew up in Northern Ireland during The Troubles ( 
Image:
REX/Shutterstock)

Liam grew up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and has been open about the fact he “never stops thinking about” the devastating events that took place around him.

The actor – who starred in multiple movies on the events – previously admitted that violence was always a part of his childhood, growing up as a Roman Catholic in a mainly Protestant area, Ballymena.

He claimed he felt like a “second-class citizen” in the area, despite not being aware of the extent of The Troubles until 1972, when he witnessed protests at school after Bloody Sunday – a huge event in Derry when 14 civilians were killed by British soldiers.

By the age of nine, Liam was venting his anger through boxing classes, and became a highly talented amateur fighter, who went on to be crowned three-time Northern Ireland champion.

Liam Neeson has discussed how his past affects him to this day ( 
Image:
ABC)
In an interview discussing his childhood surroundings, which saw Protestants and Catholics kill each other in years of terrorist attacks, he admitted: “I’ve known guys and girls who have been perpetrators of violence, and victims… Protestants and Catholics. It’s in my DNA.”

Even earlier this week, in the wake of his controversial comments about race, he discussed the true extent of what he witnessed.

“One Catholic would be killed, the next day a Protestant would be killed,” he added. “One Catholic pub would be bombed, a Protestant pub would be bombed.”

Still transfixed by Northern Ireland’s Troubles in 1996, Liam played the title role in Michael Collins – a film about the IRA patriot and revolutionary.

Recalling his own experience in relation to his character, he said: “I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge. But it leads to more revenge, to more killing, and Northern Ireland’s proof of that.”

Punching a pupil

Liam Neeson was a teacher before his acting fame ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
As well as a working as a forklift operator, a truck driver and an assistant architect, Hollywood star Liam was briefly a teacher before rising to fame as an actor.

However, violence also found its way into his classroom after he punched a 15-year-old pupil during teacher training, when the pupil brandished a knife.

Recalling the “worst day” in his short teaching career, Liam told a US interviewer that he hit the child after he persisted to “disrupt the whole class,” and pulled a knife on him.

Describing the perpetrator as a “big guy,” Liam recalled: “My reaction was to punch him, which I shouldn’t have done but I felt threatened.”

The actor confessed that he was reprimanded for hitting the teenager, and left the teaching profession not long afterwards.

His wife’s death

Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson died in a horror skiing accident ( 

Liam married actress Natasha Richardson in 1994, after they met and starred together in play, Anna Christie on Broadway.

The pair were together for 15 years, and had two sons together – Micheál, now 23, and Daniel, now 22.

However, their adoring marriage was tragically cut short when Natasha passed away in 2009 after a horror skiing injury, aged just 45.

Natasha remained on life support at first after sustaining a head injury, but Liam eventually made the difficult decision to turn it off – and has openly admitted how much the devastating moment affected him.

Booze and drugs

Actor Liam Neeson struggled with booze and drugs ( 
Image:
Getty)
Now clean and sober, Liam has been open about his previous drug struggle, developing a dependence on morphine following a motorbike crash in 2000.

He once revealed: “When they gave me morphine, ugh, I thought, ‘This is how I want to go, with a big f***in’ jar of this stuff’.

“And then when they give you that drip that you give yourself every six minutes… I knew I was hooked, because I was counting those f***ng drips, the seconds until I could push that button… and it was instantaneous, that high was.”

While he got over his dependence on painkillers, he admitted that it made him very protective as a father of two young sons.

“A teenager can take it and suddenly they can be hooked, and it changes their life and their family’s forever. That’s my constant worry,” he said.

Daniel Neeson and Michael Neeson are Liam’s two sons ( 
Image:
REX)
Discussing how he dealt with his wife’s untimely death, Love Actually star Liam also confessed to struggling with his drinking.

He said that he drank Guinness and red wine heavily to cope, and admitted that his alcohol consumption became “too much”.

The actor begun to attend AA meetings around the time of Natasha’s death, but insisted that this was to research a role he was playing, rather than for personal therapy.

His controversial opinions

Liam Neeson has previously come under fire for his comments
This isn’t the first time Liam has raised eyebrows with his comments about race, as he also admitted in 2014 that he had been guilty in the past of “racial profiling,” while promoting film, Non-Stop.

He explained: “It’s a horrible thing to admit to, but we all do it. I know I do it.

“And I’m used to it because I’m a child of Northern Ireland. And from 1970 onwards, any flights we made over to England, I’d be travelling on my own, hair down to here, single Irish guy, I was always pulled over.”

Plus, he received backlash during the #MeToo movement as he branded women speaking out against their sexual harassment a “waitch-hunt”.

Liam defended Dustin Hoffman ( 
Image:
Getty Images North America)
Liam also spoke out in defence of his Hollywood pal Dustin Hoffman, 81, after he faced accusations.