Liam Neeson sparked a relationship with his Naked Gun costar Pamela Anderson, but it wasn’t the first time the Irish actor found romance on set.
Neeson began dating Helen Mirren in the early ‘80s after they met on the set of the film Excalibur. Their relationship lasted for five years after it ultimately ran its course.
Decades after their breakup, the two reunited on The Graham Norton Show in January 2018, proving that they ended things on good terms.
“We didn’t date, we lived together for four years — we were a serious item for a while,” Mirren said of her ex. “Lucky me!”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Neeson and Mirren’s relationship:
How Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren Met
Neeson and Mirren both met when they were cast in 1981’s Excalibur. He portrayed the character Gawain, while she played Morgan le Fay.
“I remember being on the set and standing with Ciarán Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgan le Fay costume and we both went, ‘Oh f***,’” Neeson recalled on The Graham Norton Show. “I was smitten. I think Ciarán was too, but I was very smitten!”
Mirren responded, “I never knew that. You’ve never told me that before — it’s amazing.”
Neeson also made a playful quip about Mirren beginning to fancy him.
“Before I met her and we worked together, I had read somewhere that if she fancied a guy, she would imitate his walk behind his back and I turned around one day, and she was doing that to me,” he said.
Liam Neeson and Dame Helen Mirren David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Their Relationship Was Serious
After the spark ignited while filming, Mirren and Neeson began dating and moved in together. She recalled vacationing with the actor and shared some of her favorite memories of going camping.
“We would drive down to France, find a campsite and Liam would cook breakfast,” the actress remembered on Graham Norton. “Can you imagine Liam in a tent? He’s 6-foot-4!”
Liam Neeson swore off dating just nine months before he started dating Pamela Anderson. Neeson, 73, was asked whether he was dating in an interview with People in October 2024, which has resurfaced amid the confirmation of his relationship with Anderson, 58. “No, in a word,” he responded at the time. “I’m past all that.” […]
Why Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren Split
Neeson and Mirren called it quits in 1985. The reason for their breakup was simple — things just didn’t work out.
“We loved each other,” Mirren told AARP The Magazine in November 2022. “We were not meant to be together in that way, but we loved each other very, very much. I love him deeply to this day. He’s such an amazing guy.”
Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren Moved On
Nearly a decade after his split from Mirren, Neeson walked down the aisle with Natasha Richardson in 1994. They welcomed son Micheál in 1995 and son Daniel in 1996.
Richardson died in March 2009 after suffering a head injury in a ski accident in Canada. She was 45 years old.
“They say the hardest thing in the world is losing someone you love,” Neeson wrote on Facebook in 2016. “My wife died unexpectedly. She brought me so much joy. She was my everything.”
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson MAX NASH/AFP via Getty Images
Mirren also expressed her condolences after Richardson’s death.
“Natasha was a great actress, a fantastic mother, a loving wife and a whirlwind of energy, with an infectious love of life expressed firstly by her wonderful deep laugh,” she said in a statement at the time. “Anyone who knew her will be in mourning today. I hope that Liam and her sons are helped in their pain by the great love and sympathy that is coming to them from people all over the world.”
Neeson privately grieved Richardson’s death with his sons. A year later, he was linked to public relations executive Freya St. Johnston. They split in 2012.
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson’s relationship was something right out of a movie — and although Richardson passed away in 2009, Neeson has never stopped singing her praises. Neeson and Richardson met in 1993 while working on Broadway’s Anna Christie, one year after her split from producer Robert Fox. Although Richardson called the beginning of […]
After swearing off dating for a while, Neeson struck up a relationship with costar Anderson while working on The Naked Gun. The pair shared several flirty moments while promoting the film in July 2025, with Us Weekly confirming that they were officially dating shortly after.
“They are both shy and have tried to stay private but the spark between them is obvious,” an insider told Us that month.
Mirren, for her part, has been married to husband Taylor Hackford since 1997. She opened up about her continued admiration for Neeson while speaking with The New York Times in July 2025.
“When we had our talks about our dreams, and that was very much Liam’s dream, it was highly unlikely at that point to ever come to fruition,” Mirren told the outlet of Neeson’s desire to act in Hollywood films. “But that’s what Liam would talk about, and it’s extraordinary to see it happen for him. I will love Liam until the day I die.”
