‘I’m madly in love with her. She’s just terrific to work with. I can’t compliment her enough, I’ll be honest with you.’
So said Liam Neeson when asked about his undeniable chemistry with Pamela Anderson, the perennially single actor’s co-star in a forthcoming reboot of The Naked Gun.
Here, Neeson breathes new life into the late Leslie Nielsen’s inept police lieutenant Frank Drebin, while Anderson plays vampish love interest Beth – a character seemingly modelled on Priscilla Presley‘s sultry Jane Spencer.
But the 73-year old actor’s off-screen connection with Anderson, 58, has garnered more attention than their on-screen romance, with the characteristically reticent Neeson offering an affectionate assessment of Anderson during a recent interview.
‘No huge ego. She just comes in to do the work,’ he told PEOPLE. ‘She’s funny and so easy to work with. She’s going to be terrific in the film.’
Anderson, single following the collapse of her fifth marriage to Dan Hayhurst in 2022, subsequently returned the compliment by describing Neeson as ‘humble’ and the ‘perfect gentleman.
Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson’s off-screen chemistry has sparked inevitable romance rumours following their appearance in a forthcoming reboot of The Naked (pictured)
Neeson has remained stoically single following the sudden death of actress wife Natasha Richardson in 2009 (pictured together in 1993)
‘He brings out the best in you… with respect, kindness and depth of experience. It was an absolute honour to work with him,’ she said. ‘He sincerely looked after me – wrapped his coat around me when I was cold.’
She added: ‘I think I have a friend for ever in Liam and we definitely have a connection that is very sincere, very loving, and he’s a good guy. He really is a silly guy. He acts like a silly little boy sometimes.’
In a joint interview with Anderson, Neeson also admitted he enjoyed working alongside an intimacy co-ordinator while filming sex scenes with the former Baywatch star.
‘I’d never had one before,’ he said. ‘But she was in the background. There was no kind of, “OK! Excuse me!”‘
In director Akiva Schaffer’s slapstick comedy reboot, Anderson portrays a nightclub singer who comes to Drebin and his calamitous Police Squad cronies for help following the murder of her brother.
She added that the co-ordinator ‘knew when to walk away’, with Neeson claiming she threw her hands up in the air and said, “I can’t take this! This is too hot for me. I’m going for coffee”.
‘Our chemistry was clear from the start. We have the utmost respect for one another,’ Anderson told Entertainment Weekly in May.
‘I invited him and his assistant over for romantic dinners with me and my assistant so our relationship stayed “professionally romantic” during filming.’
A devastated Neeson was left to raise their two young sons Micheál and Daniel – who were aged just 13 and 12 when their mother died (pictured in 2008)
His one notable romance following the death of his wife was with businesswoman Freya St. Johnston, from 2010 to 2012 (pictured together in 2011)
Neeson has praised his late wife’s sister Joely Richardson and mother Vanessa Redgrave – both acclaimed actresses in their own right – for ‘pulling together’ following her death
Neeson dated St. Johnston for two-years before separating in 2012, amid claims the actor wanted to spend more time with his sons in New York City
The Canadian star apparently bonded with Neeson over their shared ‘love of literature and a good laugh’ and she regularly left cookies, muffins, and home-baked sourdough bread in his dressing room.
‘I am in awe of him, his experience, and work ethic. I soaked him in like a sponge,’ she said.
‘I’m hoping people love it. We had so much fun making it. I think it’s timely for a beloved comedy like this.
‘I’m a fan of the originals. As Liam says, “We could all use a good giggle.” I pray we do more.’
It all bodes well for fans of the franchise, but with the film scheduled for release on August 1 is their off-screen chemistry all part of an ongoing publicity campaign – or have they really found Love, Actually?
For Neeson, it would mark the end of a protracted spell on the sidelines, having remained stoically single following the sudden death of actress wife Natasha Richardson in 2009 – 15-years after they exchanged vows.
Neeson breathes new life into the late Leslie Nielsen’s inept police lieutenant Frank Drebin in a rebooted version of slapstick comedy The Naked Gun (pictured)
Anderson portrays a nightclub singer (pictured) who comes to Drebin and his calamitous Police Squad cronies for help following the murder of her brother
Richardson was just 45 when she died of an epidural hematoma, two days after sustaining a head injury during a beginner’s skiing lesson in Canada.
A subsequent post mortem revealed that Richardson died from bleeding in her skull caused by the fall on a ski slope in Mont Tremblant.
A devastated Neeson was left to raise their two young sons Micheál and Daniel – who were aged just 13 and 12 when their mother died.
‘It was a horrible thing to happen,’ he later told PEOPLE of the skiing accident that claimed Richardson’s life.
Praising her sister Joely Richardson and mother Vanessa Redgrave – both acclaimed actresses in their own right – he said: ‘Everybody just pulled together. Vanessa and Joely were extraordinary. We were fortunate in lots of ways.’
Neeson and Richardson married in 1994, little more than a year after meeting when they were both cast in a Broadway production of Anna Christie.
The actress has been married five times, but it was her first marriage to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee that attracted headlines (pictured together in 1995)
Prior to meeting his wife, Neeson enjoyed a colourful love life with a string of stars – among them Barbra Streisand, Brooke Shields and Dame Helen Mirren (pictured together in 1984)
Neeson and Richardson married in 1994 after meeting the year prior when they were cast in the Broadway play Anna Christie (pictured together in 2007)
Prior to meeting his wife, Neeson had enjoyed a colourful love life with a string of high profile stars – among them Barbra Streisand, Brooke Shields and Dame Helen Mirren, with whom he claimed to be ‘smitten’.
Neeson previously reflected on meeting Mirren on the set of their 1981 movie Excalibur during a 2018 episode of The Graham Norton Show.
‘I remember being on the set and standing with Ciarán Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgana Le Fey costume and we both went, “Oh f***,”‘ he said.
‘I was smitten. I think Ciarán was too, but I was very smitten!’
But following Richardson’s death, his only romance of note came in 2010, when he embarked on a relationship with businesswoman Freya St. Johnston.
The couple dated for two-years before separating in 2012, amid claims the actor wanted to spend more time with his sons in New York City.
The 72-year-old actor’s wife Natasha Richardson died in 2009 at age 45 (pictured in 1999)
Only time will tell if a certain former Baywatch lifeguard has rescued Neeson from a life of relative solitude
‘Liam is heading back to America at the start of next month to work on his new film Non-Stop,’ a source told MailOnline at the time.
‘He told Freya that he wants to take a break and concentrate on his family.’
The insider explained that Neeson broke up with St. Johnston shortly after a romantic trip to Italy, adding: ‘He called time on the relationship right after the Rome trip.
‘He told her he wanted to spend more time in New York and that he really wants to make more time for his children.
‘Freya wants something more serious, but Liam feels it is too soon. His wife only died three years ago, he wants to take things slow.’
The couple were thought to have known each other for 10 years, but only began dating in September 2010, a year and a half after the death of the actor’s wife.
By 2024 the writing appeared to be on the wall for Neeson’s love life, with the Irish star claiming he was ‘over’ the prospect of settling down with another woman.
‘I’m past all that,’ he told PEOPLE at the time.
Maybe, maybe not, but only time will tell if a certain former Baywatch lifeguard has finally rescued him from a life of relative solitude.
The Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, goes on general release in cinemas from August 1
