Transcript

RE-RELEASE: Liam Neeson | SmartLess

From SmartLess · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 3 min · 12,811 words · 322 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "RE-RELEASE: Liam Neeson | SmartLess", an episode of SmartLess published August 14, 2025 (1 h 3 min, about 12,811 words). It mentions 87 people, works and ideas, including Schindler's List, Clash of the Titans, Belfast, Memory, The Bounty.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: George Bernard Shaw, Honest Thief, Memory, Schindler's List
  2. – 20:00: Clash of the Titans, The Crucible, Arrested Development, Kinsey
  3. – 30:00: Belfast, Tahiti, Anthony Hopkins, Cave Hill
  4. – 40:00: Schindler's List, The Bounty, Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun
  5. – 50:00: Anna Christie, Guinness, Memory, Poland
  6. – 1:00:00: Ken Burns, Muhammad Ali, Clash of the Titans, Dingle
  7. – 1:02:49: Clash of the Titans, Force Awakens, Memory, Michael Grant Terry

Notable quotes from "RE-RELEASE: Liam Neeson | SmartLess"

  • Actor and he's the star of the Nut Job, The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies, Honest Thief. He's got a new film coming out, memory, you guys. It's Mr. Real movie star.
    about Schindler's List · at
  • We've had our first George Bernard Shaw quote on. You have already classed us up a million%, Liam. Thank you so much for being here, man. It's such an incredible honor.
    about George Bernard Shaw · at
  • Worry about it because I started off in the theater for four years just nothing but theater and did the odd play and the crucible and this becket piece and then about three…
    about The Crucible · at
  • Dance, Jason. You must Yeah, but it's still I did actually the last big fight I did was with Will Arnett on Arrested Development. It was supposed to be It was supposed to be funny because it lasted so long. two idiots that don't really know.
    about Will Arnett · at
  • Them was of course Schindler's List and with Ray Fines. And then here I am years and years later watching Clash of the Titans. And it wasn't until the end of the movie I was Oh, wait. Those two were in Schindler's List, too.
    about Clash of the Titans · at
  • I was actually living in Belfast. I was in the theater. There were bombs and armored cars going. It was just like I'm you know it's it's a bit it was a bit like Ukraine I can imagine at the.
    about Belfast · at
  • Yeah. So, so Tracy, Tony Hopkins is Sir Anthony Hopkins, and you worked together the first time, I imagine, on The Bounty. Is that right?
    about The Bounty · at
  • Have you done any of the Ken Burns documentaries?
    about Ken Burns · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Ken Burns — Person · 2 mentions · first at
  • Muhammad Ali — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    I haven't seen that one yet. And I have to say and Muhammad Ali was is always will be my idol. Always was. I just Yeah, that documentary is incredible.
  • George Bernard Shaw — Person · 1 mention · first at
  • Will Arnett — Person · 1 mention · first at
  • Judi Dench — Person · 1 mention · first at
  • Margaret Chase Smith — Person · 1 mention · first at
  • John Borman — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Was there for a while and I did a production of Steinbecks of Men and yes John Borman the film director who lives in Ireland he came to see it and he was putting together this film Excalibur about Arthurian legends and he asked.
  • Ken Anderson — Person · 1 mention · first at
    I think it was Ken Anderson who was in charge of this little outreach.
  • Anthony Hopkins — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. So, so Tracy, Tony Hopkins is Sir Anthony Hopkins, and you worked together the first time, I imagine, on The Bounty. Is that right?
  • Roger Donaldson — Person · 1 mention · first at
    I'll never forget that quality he had and we had a lovely a great director Roger Donaldson knew from New Zealand but he and Tony didn't get on terribly well because he would do…
  • Eric Roth — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Was it Eric Roth or Steven? One of the two.
  • Christian Bale — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Oh wow. Christian Bale's first movie, right? I guess he remembered me and he so I was asked to go in and meet him for Schindler's List and I had you know because it's set in the 1940s I.
  • Michael Grant Terry — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbco, and Michael Grant Terry.
  • Albert Finney — Person · 1 mention
  • Amanda Anka — Person · 1 mention
  • Branko Lustig — Person · 1 mention
  • Colin Blakely — Person · 1 mention
  • Henning Mankell — Person · 1 mention
  • Jason Bateman — Person · 1 mention
  • Jo Nesbø — Person · 1 mention
  • John Bunyan — Person · 1 mention
  • John Gielgud — Person · 1 mention
  • Justin Bateman — Person · 1 mention
  • Kate Capshaw — Person · 1 mention
  • Kristin Chenoweth — Person · 1 mention
  • Laura Linney — Person · 1 mention
  • Liam Neeson — Person · 1 mention
  • Lisa Kudrow — Person · 1 mention
  • Ray Fiennes — Person · 1 mention
  • Robert Stephens — Person · 1 mention
  • Sean Hayes — Person · 1 mention
  • Steven Zaillian — Person · 1 mention
  • Tony Hale — Person · 1 mention
  • Victoria Bateman — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

  • Schindler's List — Book · 4 mentions · first at
  • Clash of the Titans — Book · 4 mentions · first at
  • Memory — Book · 3 mentions · first at
    Perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies, Honest Thief. He's got a new film coming out, memory, you guys. It's Mr. Real movie star right there.
  • The Bounty — Book · 3 mentions · first at
  • The Crucible — Book · 2 mentions · first at
  • The Nut Job — Book · 1 mention · first at
    He's somebody that I've just admired for so long because he's such an incredible actor and he's the star of the Nut Job, The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's…
  • The Lego Movie — Book · 1 mention · first at
    So long because he's such an incredible actor and he's the star of the Nut Job, The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies, Honest Thief. He's got a new film coming out, memory, you guys. It's Mr. Real.
  • Honest Thief — Book · 1 mention · first at
    The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies, Honest Thief. He's got a new film coming out, memory, you guys. It's Mr. Real movie star right there.
  • Arrested Development — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah, but it's still I did actually the last big fight I did was with Will Arnett on Arrested Development. It was supposed to be It was supposed to be funny because it lasted…
  • Kinsey — Book · 1 mention · first at
    And then we did a film called Kinsey.
  • Excalibur — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Who lives in Ireland he came to see it and he was putting together this film Excalibur about Arthurian legends and he asked me would I play Sir Gane And I was in this film and with the shining suits of armor, myself, my best.
  • The Millers — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. The Millers that we were on together. and we you were like in you know in the top one of the top shows for many years and it was it would be hard.
  • Satisfaction — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. But that's And let's not forget the one you did with my sister called Satisfaction where she played a little rock and roll star.
  • Empire of the Sun — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Jason. Steve Alien. And I had read for Stephen with a bunch of kids when he was casting Empire of the Sun.
  • Anna Christie — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Well, it was quite a few weeks. I was doing this play where I met my wife. It was called The play was called Anna Christie.
  • Who Do You Think You Are? — Book · 1 mention · first at
    I did a friend of ours, Lisa Kudro, produced this show called Who Do You Think You Are? And it traces your ancestry.
  • Star Wars — Book · 1 mention · first at
    I didn't even get a chance to ask him about Star Wars.
  • Force Awakens — Book · 1 mention · first at
    In so many Star Wars movies and then he was like a he was one of those stormtroopers in the Force Awakens.
  • I'ma Be Me — Book · 1 mention
  • Joe (Samuel Beckett piece) — Book · 1 mention
  • Of Mice and Men — Book · 1 mention
  • Ozark — Book · 1 mention
  • Pilgrim's Progress — Book · 1 mention
  • Promises, Promises — Book · 1 mention
  • The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature — Book · 1 mention
  • Will & Grace — Book · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

  • World Jewish Congress — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Of Ashvitz the real Avitz in Poland and I think the World Jewish Congress I think that's the right name didn't give Steven permission to shoot inside Avitz but the production design team did a brilliant job we shot outside of Ashvitz.
  • SmartLess — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbco, and Michael Grant Terry.
  • Abbey Theatre — Company · 1 mention
  • Lyric Players Theatre — Company · 1 mention
  • National Theatre — Company · 1 mention
  • Pan Am — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

  • Guinness — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Theater, after shows, we'd go to the local pub, and have I adored Guinness.
  • Red wine — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And I switched to red wine. I absolutely adored that. And that put that puts on less weight, but there's the hangovers. Not as fun.
  • Melatonin — Product · 1 mention · first at
    No, I have gummies with the CBD and a little bit of melatonin. I take those every night.
  • Stanley mug — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And I'm I'm constantly This it's a mug. what is that? Okay. It's a Stanley mug.
  • GMC trucks — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Particular product on television? You do any commercial stuff? because Will talks about GMC trucks all the time and yes, lucky for them, he's still doing it.
  • CBD gummies — Product · 1 mention
  • THC gummies — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

Places & events

  • Belfast — Place · 4 mentions · first at
  • Tahiti — Place · 3 mentions · first at
    That's right. It was the bounty and we shot it in Maria which is an island, beautiful island just off Tahiti.
  • Lincoln Center — Place · 1 mention · first at
    The job. and Ray Fines was it was an evening of Becket pieces at Lincoln Center.
  • Cave Hill — Place · 1 mention · first at
    The evangelical religion. And I'm I remember there's a place u called Cave Hill that sort of overlooks the city of Belfast. And I was playing Jesus Christ.
  • Dublin — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Earnest at that point. Yeah. I mean that was No, I moved down to Dublin. Okay.
  • Poland — Place · 1 mention · first at
    5:30 in the morning we were at the gates of Ashvitz the real Avitz in Poland and I think the World Jewish Congress I think that's the right name didn't give Steven permission to shoot inside Avitz but the production design team did a.
  • Dingle — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Dingle and Oh, Dingle. Beautiful.
  • Donnie Gaul — Place · 1 mention · first at
    We're going to shoot a film in Donnie Gaul.
  • Auschwitz — Place · 1 mention
  • County Kerry — Place · 1 mention
  • Maria Island — Place · 1 mention

Sponsors

  • SmartLess — Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbco, and Michael Grant Terry.

Full transcript with timestamps

Welcome welcome welcome welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to Welcome to Smart Smart. less smart.

I feel like I want to get into talking to you guys. I really do. I miss you, Sean. I I owe you a call. I know that you FaceTime me the other night and I never called you back and I'm just realizing that now.

And I miss you desperately. I miss you guys, too. And are you okay in Chicago? Oh, Will. William, thank you. Yes, I'm okay. I mean, it's other than the sirens going off every single every [ __ ] night. And the guy across the across the hall from us has a dog and they leave the door open and it barks so loud it sounds like it's in our apartment and then and then it gets all the dogs down the whole the whole hallway going every dog starts barking.

Have you talked to him about it or giving them a hairy eyeball on the elevator at least?

No, I I don't. What are you guys about masks? Like people in the in this building

and dogs? No, they are carriers. No, like I like some people in the building don't wear masks anymore and some people are like, "Oh, the mandate's over." So,

I would like to do it based on how they look. Like, ooh, you need a mask. You know what I mean?

But, uh, what else? I always forget to bring a meal to rehearsal, too. So, I'm kind of hungry all the time. We only get 20-minute breaks.

So, if I run home, Isn't this an amazing story? If I run home, relatable. Maybe the soldiers in the Ukraine would like to hear about your 20-minute breaks.

Yeah, maybe they want to talk about your tech rehearsal aren't great. Wait. Yeah. Are you gonna start complaining about your blocking next?

Yeah. Yes. Oh, thank you for bringing that up. Wait, take it up with the director. We don't want to hear about the blocking on your

No. So, I have 20 minutes. I don't know what to I never have. It's Anyway, I'm always hungry.

Yeah. Yeah. Jason, um I don't have any complaints. I just feel for my fellow citizens around the world. Um like gosh,

Sean, you would have loved it last night. I had Jason's wife Amanda here at the house and his uh daughter Maple.

But no, Jason to have dinner with my f not Jason. No, no, cuz you know cuz today is Saturday. Yesterday was a work day. Um so you're starting dinner at 5:00. That means I still got two hours of work left.

By the way, what a joke. Says the says the guy who since January 1 has played 34 days of golf and none of them on the weekend, by the way, cuz he's not allowed to play on the weekend cuz that's family time. Let's talk about workplace.

Wait, isn't that a new is that a new rule? It is a new rule and I feel good about it. Uh and I'm also a new rule is uh this is also something our relations and strife around the world are

to do with your Tesla. Go ahead. No, it's I'm I'm going to not play every day. Okay.

Oh, wow. Oh, you know, the term hero gets used a lot, but I mean, in this case,

listen, we actors uh are, you know, it's not we're not it's it's easy. Okay? And people that say, "Oh, it's so hard and the hours are so Please, we're so lucky to be doing what

Let me tell you something. When when I run lines with Scotty just from to memorize lines, run lines, Tracy, is like you run lines like you memorize lines." and he I have such a short temper with him and it's has nothing to do with him but I'm like okay so I come in and I say oh relax okay then I say yeah but it's only four lousy hours what can go wrong and he says no it's I go back go back to the previous line I can't

does he correct you on on every word every syllable and does he come to rehearsal and sit out in the audience and does he do you go line and Scotty's there

no for the actual performances you imagine Can he maybe have like a fanny pack that's got snacks in it or something for you?

I know. That's a good idea. Can you make me a a fanny pack with snacks? A pack snack. A snack.

You know, it's almost like walking you like he's a dog walker but for you and he's got a fanny pack and he could have some wipes and stuff.

It's a snacky pack. Wipes. Scotty with a snacky pack. We tried to buy Sean that toilet too and then it it wouldn't work. Right. Sean, what? Jason and I wanted to buy you a fancy toilet.

I know. That was so nice. Yeah. listener. So, when we were on the tour, you'd learn a lot about someone when you're living with them. And uh and sweet, sweet Sean, um as privileged as he sounds with this past five minutes, um he was completely unaware that the uh the toilets with the wash lit has snuck up on him and he'd never heard of it before. You know, the the thosetoilets that like shoot a geyser in you and Well, no. I mean, people know about them. Not a lot of people have them, but I mean it's like it's this bizarre new technology in um

it's a bedet built into the bath. Yes. And we tried to buy Jason and I tried to after learning of Sean didn't know we tried for his birthday. I came out of the bathroom. I was like in awe. I was like, "Oh my god, there's these switches. It can clean your ass. It can then it blow dries."

We were staying in a hotel that had one and he couldn't believe it. We're like, "Come on, you'd never." So, we know that he while he's away in Chicago, he's re doing some remodeling in the in the castle there in LA. And so, we tried to arrange with his husband to get a new toy toy put in there and it ended up being more expensive than the toilet itself. Toy.

You had to tear down the wall and to go into the pipes and but it's the thought that counts and you guys were so sweet to think of that. And I was going to get you guys Porsches, but it just didn't work out.

Well, there's still time. There's still time. It's a thought. It's a thought. Speaking of still time, we're running out of time because we have a great guest here who has been really biting his time waiting and and being so gracious.

Sorry, that's my fault. And and he this is somebody who can relate to actor problems because this is a person who's been acting at a high level for longer than the three of us have ever, you know, even known what the hell was going on in the world. This is somebody who uh started on the stage to great acclaim, moved into films, has made countless films over the year at the highest level. Great performances, not Dick Van Djk.

Not only that, he and I have starred together, as it turns out, in three pictures together.

Um, which does only brings him down and props me up uh and makes me look good. He's somebody that I've just admired for so long because he's such an incredible actor and he's the star of the Nut Job, The Nut Job 2, The Lego Movie, also perhaps Schindler's List, The Taken Movies, Honest Thief. He's got a new film coming out, memory, you guys. It's Mr. Real movie star

right there. Hi, Sean. Wow. Good morning. Look at this. I did love listening to you. I did love listening to you. I swear.

Sorry about that. Jason, you play golf. I have to tell I'm only because I'm trying to I'm trying to understand how the common man lives his life.

He's sorry for you. He said, did you hear that? He said that he already feels pity for you, Jason.

I know. I'm embarrassed, but I do it I do it for the mental anguish of it. To me, it's work. It's very hard to do.

Yeah. Very believable. Anyhow, I still don't think as George Bernard Cho once said, it's a good walk ruined. That's right.

It's true. That's part of the job, trying to stay positive. We've had our first George Bernard Shaw quote on. You have already classed us up a million%, Liam. Thank you so much for being here, man. It's such an incredible honor.

I'm very honored myself and I'm very, very [ __ ] nervous. Don't be. Liam, let me start by this because this is an area that Sean loves the most, which is are stories from the theater. And you have a long history of performing in the theater for many years. So Sean, I'm going to give you the opportunity.

Oh my god. To right off the bat ask Liam a theater question. Your your most prized theater question.

Well, now I'm put on the spot. First of all, I can't believe I'm talking to you. Like I've never met you. This is so awesome. This so cool. And I'm nervous a little bit.

Oh, me. So my question to you is, what is your favorite tragic theater story? I've said

I've said so many of mine on here. I'm trying to think of another one. Well, I can tell you another one. Kristen, I did a play with Kristen Chennowith years ago. The listeners are so sick of me talking about. And at the end of uh the show, we come up for our bows and I look over from opposite wings and Kristen and I are supposed to come from opposite sides of the stage, meet in the middle, walk down the center and take our bow together.

Complicated. And I never seen that before. The So the these are the these are the curtain calls, huh?

Yeah. Walk the bows, right? Okay. Do you mean did you bump into each other? How do you avoid that?

What were your two characters name? Wait, promises and promises, right? Are those the two characters?

Keep going, Sean. Sean, classy guest. So, so I look over and Kristen's not there and I'm like, "Oh my god, everybody's clapping, waiting for us to come out." I'm like, "Where's Kristen?" And I look over and she's dead passed out on the on the floor. passed out on the floor and I'm like, "What the hell happened to Kristen Gentleman?"

And so I'm like stage manager. I'm like, "Do I go out? Do I wait for her? What's happened? They're trying to revive her again. Rebecca." So I went out and took my bow by myself. And

you're thinking, "Wow, I'm getting double the applause to So then, so then what happened to her?

She they she passed out because she um didn't eat that day. So they gave her a candy bar and she like came back to She did a whole show and then passed out at the end.

Oh my gosh. When when is the last time you did a live theater per show? Oh my god. Um 14 years ago. I did a little

Samuel Beckett piece called a Joe. Uh it lasts about 25 minutes. I don't say a word. That's one of the reasons I took the job. and uh and Ray Fines was was uh it was an evening of Becket pieces uh at Lincoln Center.

Mhm. That was the last time. And do you want to do it again or you're like I'm good?

The muse is gone for me. It's left me completely really. Yeah. I and it's I I don't I used to worry about it because I started off in the theater for four years just nothing but theater and did the odd play and the crucible and this becket piece and then about three four years ago it just the muse just left me. I was offered some stuff and it's just I love seeing my friends do it. I love

You're talking about the muse for theater. Muse for theater. Yes, Jason. Yeah. But but you know I hear people say that about theater because the the the schedule is really really challenging but the movies you are doing

are so demanding. You cannot ask for a harder genre for you to do and you do it. You I I can understand maybe one out of every five films you're out there doing all the all the action stuff, but my god, the the amount of stamina that you must have and work ethic you have, discipline that you have, and and the the shape you must be in, it's so incredibly admirable. Uh

well, thank you. You know, a nice little a nice little three-act drama down the street. Um, I mean, come on. You You need You need a break.

Yeah. I I Well, maybe some little farce comedy, you know, some some sort of French farce, you know? Bunch of Yeah. A bunch of doors slamming, bunch of grabass.

Yeah, that stuff that stuff's hard to do, you know. Timing wise, or get yourself a podcast, Liam.

Oh, God. Come on. Look how cozy this is. Liam, I'm going to tell you something. I'm 51, almost 52 and I play 36. He plays 36. Look at him.

Well, we won't talk about age, but I'll tell you this. I read a script the other day. They said, um, take a look at this. They said they're interested and I read and the first scene said exterior night. And I said, I'm not interested. That's a true story.

Liam doesn't care about that. Yeah. I mean, it does take a lot those films you do.

Look, we've all done it. We, you know, it's it's um it takes a village, right? Yeah.

Um I have a little routine when I'm doing mine. I get up. I I exercise for 30 35 minutes maximum.

That's it. No more than that. And uh you know, when you're doing the junkets and stuff, say, "Oh, you do your own stunts." And I always I always say to them, "Please listen to me. I do not do my own stunts. I don't do that at all. I do my own fighting. That I like to do."

Yeah. Uh, but stunts, no. You know, jumping out of windows and going over wait. So, you're doing your own fighting.

Yeah, the fighting is no bargain. That that's that's not simple. Yeah, but it's it's like learning a dance, Jason. You You must

Yeah, but it's still I I did actually the last big fight I did was with Will Arnett on Arrested Development. It was supposed to be It was supposed to be funny because it lasted so long. You know, two idiots that don't really know how to fight. They just end up on the floor wrestling. And they kept cutting back to the scene and we're still throwing. So we had to shoot it over the course of like I don't know it was like a 15minute. It literally put me in the hospital. We had to shut down for a few weeks because I was so exhausted and this was this was 20 years ago.

A lot to handle. You'd say that right now. You're a lot to you got a real back on you. Yeah.

Okay. Oh my god. Um you play golf every day. I play golf now. I only play nine holes a day. I can't walk 18. No, that's not true. But Jay, I asked you about that last the last episode of the latest Ozark chunk where the guy comes in and beats the crap out of you. I'm like, "Was that you?" And you're like, "No, are you [ __ ] kidding me?"

No, I uh I for a while there, I kind of thought, "Oh, no. I'm going to I if there's some kind of a stunt I want to do. It would be kind of And then and then a stunt coordinator took me aside one day and he said, "Hey guy, I I know you're trying to do the right thing for camera and everything by having it be your face, but you know, you're taking money out of this guy's pocket over here who's just standing on the set ready to double you and and he gets paid for every take. So if you just sit there and try to be a hero, this guy's trying to make a living, too. And I was like, "Oh."

So, uh, I I learned that lesson early on. Liam, I'm sure you learned it way before I

And it's going to make you look good. Exactly. It's going to make you look good.

Yeah. On top of it all. Yeah. So, uh, when Will kind of said that you guys, uh, on nut jobs up, you've got to look for some of those jobs sometimes that are nice and cushy. Maybe just with a microphone, preferably like a like an animated film. But, uh, even if it's on camera, maybe some sort of nice domestic uh, you know, dramdy or something.

Yeah. But I don't get to kill people, you know. You could have a dream sequence right in the middle of like a Thanksgiving dinner, you know.

That's true. Uh-huh. Um Liam, wait, you touched on something I wanted to ask you about, which was, you know, obviously you've done tons and tons of such phenomenal work in your life and your career. And you know, one of one of the biggest ones out of all of them was of course Schindler's List and with Ray Fines. And then here I am years and years later watching Clash of the Titans. And it wasn't until the end of the movie I was like, "Oh, wait. Those two were in Schindler's List, too." Like, that's how great you are. I completely forgot that you both were in another movie together. And so, do you have a relationship with Rafe? Like, did you know him? Did you build a

No, Rafe's He's a really, really good friend. But I remember when we shot that, that was the first we did two at Clash of the Titans and uh Wrath of the Titans, was it? And uh the first one was uh that was nearly 13 years ago. But when Rafe comes on, he's playing Hades, you know, the god of hell. And I'm Zeus, the god of gods. He comes and he's my brother.

I couldn't do the scene. I couldn't look him straight in the eyes. I had to keep looking at his forehead.

Why? Why? To make you laugh. Why? Cuz he kept cracking you up. Well, we just, you know, we're dressed in wigs and beards and all this stuff. And it's like it's like, oh, come on. You know,

it was so good. I couldn't do the scene with him. I just had to keep looking at his forehead.

There are people that you have that kind of relationship with. You have that kind of chemistry that they just make you uh laugh. And when I was doing Arrested, it was Tony Hail who played Buster. And we would often come into a scene together. And so we'd be on our start mark and we would the ADB looking at us about to give us our queue. And like right as you could hear the dialogue, we're about to get the queue. Tony would would immediately kind of go into his character of Buster. All of a sudden, he'd be standing there and he goes eyebrows

like this. Get ready. And as soon as he did that, I couldn't I couldn't stop laughing. And so I'd come into scenes laughing already cuz he's I've just corpseed off stage. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Oh god. Now, speaking of people that are unprofessional and can't keep it together, Laura Lenny, your friend, um, boy, we finally got through that show. How have you managed to stay friends with somebody that undisiplined and untalented for so many years?

I know. I know. Um, come here. So, when am I going to see series three part two? I've seen part one. I've seen I love the show, by the way. I really do like of Ozark. Yeah.

Ozark Ozark. Yes. Thank you. Yes. No, we It's coming the end of April. Um, I'm not sure when this is going to air, but probably right about now. Um, and uh that Laura, my goodness, is she good. She's uh

you guys have been friends for many, many, many years, right? And um she uh she's got so many great stories about you and I'll bet you of her, but um

you know, it's just a ver sorry listener for just a second. It I'm listen the listener can relate to this. Anybody in any working experience, work environment, if you love the people that you work with, you don't spend a minute working ever. and she was just so incredible in sort of washing the whole set with her

good vibes and positivity and warmth and uh do you think she'd say the same about you?

No, no, no, no, no. Between the two of us, we had we got to something right in the middle. Um you guys worked together originally. Is that how you met?

Yeah. Um I'm trying to think. Um yeah. Am I Am I totally forgetting a big thing you guys did together or was it just a social? No, we did The Crucible on Broadway.

Okay. And then we did a film uh called Kinsey. He was researcher. Yeah, absolutely.

And Laura was my wife in that. And then we did another film with Antonio Banderas.

She was having an affair with him. We were married. She cheated on me in Ozark 2.

He's still I love that Liam is still angry about it. It's just a movie. Especially Antonio Banderas. He's so ugly. I It's like come on. It's the hallmark of a I don't want to embarrass you, Liam, but it's a hallmark of a great of a great movie star that you barely remember how many movies you've done or what they are. And and for us, like as as sort of like fans, we're like, "This is so exciting to have somebody who

Well, do you know something? I'm I'm I'm not blowing smoke up my ass here. Uh just prior to Christmas past, I finished my 100th film."

No way. Wow. Wow. That's crazy. couldn't believe. I mean, Tony Hopkins used to say, "Anytime we see each other, give each other a hug." And uh I said, "How's it going, Tony?" And he says, "A great." He says, "I haven't been found out yet. I feel the exact same."

But Liam, I'm not great at math here, but if you did four movies a year for 25 years in a row, that would give you a hundred films. So, I mean, to do listener the, you know, do a doing a film as an actor is a threemon shoot. So if you did four, I mean that's that's working 12 months a year every year for 25 years.

Not really. Yeah. I mean I started u my first little film was 1977. Jason. So little little parts count obviously. Um

was that in Ireland or was were you living in England by the when you did your first film? I wanted to get into this.

I was actually living in Belfast. I was in the theater. There were bombs and armored cars going. It was just like

I I'm you know it's um it's a bit it was a bit like Ukraine I can imagine at the minute.

Yeah. Um and we were in I was in this theater called the Lyric Players Theater and uh we we played uh six nights a week during the height of the troubles. That theater never closed. A couple of times there were bomb scares where

soldiers would come in, we'd have to go out onto the street with the audience and then okay, all clear, go back in again

and go back and do the show. What is that experience like? Because you know for us obviously you know we we're such pampered uh uh you know guys who have have not had to experience anything like that. But for to do a play in an environment like that that does must feel so far apart. must does it even feel like show business or does it feel like you're What is your mindset doing a play day in and day out with real, you know, uh threat out just outside the doors?

Well, the my mindset was I was just so thrilled to be acting. Yeah. And getting paid for it.

Yeah. And it was literally as simple as that. And uh you know I was 24 when I turned professional and you know still pretty much a kid and you you know all this [ __ ] was happening out in the streets and stuff and uh but I I don't know you just I I felt I was just I was in a bubble my own bubble of joy.

Yeah. Doing these play we did a play we did a different play every four weeks you know.

Wow. We'll be right back. And now back to the show. So there at 24, who who was the Liam Niss for you at 24? Who were you looking at and going, "My god, if I could have a career that lasts that long and hold that amount of re relevance that long and be at the top of my game at that age, now that I'm 24, I hope to be that age doing that. Well, who was that who was that north star for you at that at that point?"

God, that's a good question. Well, certainly my ambition then would have been I mean it wasn't I I I never thought of movies at all. That was

really un unattainable for some reason. But I I thought, "Oh, wouldn't it be great to be in Britain's national theater?"

Yeah. As a as a regular player, you know, that that that was about the idea. Who was the big shot in the in the in the National Theater at that at that point? Was it is does it go back too far to say John Gilgood?

Oh, Maggie Smith, Judy Dench. Yeah. Robert Stevens, uh Colin Blakeley, who was my hero. He was from the north of Ireland, too.

But it was Yeah, it was that it was it was based on theater. And then I was Albert Finny doing uh doing work in the National Theater at that time?

Uh no, not he 1976 he did a Hamlet. Yeah. Which was very, very good. Which I saw.

I'll bet. My god. Yeah. It just seems uh I've just been so lucky, Jason. And I genuinely mean that. It's just been

But but but you're doing theater and you're and you say and I'm glad Jason brought that up that and and you said that you never had any ambition to do movies that felt like just probably so far away from where you were at that time.

Sure. But then but then you do a film in Belfast, your first film, and then the first time you're on a movie set, do you think like, "Yeah, I could see this seems about right." Like did it did it feel comfortable? No, I I didn't know that. The the first movie was for an evangelical outreach who were making a film in Belfast, believe it or not, of Pilgrims Progress.

Wow. Uh John Bunan's Pilgrims Progress. And apparently the little film is still touring Africa and stuff, you know, to to get converts and stuff.

Oh, wow. Wow. The evangelical uh religion. And uh and I'm I remember there there's a place u called Cave Hill that sort of overlooks the city of Belfast. And I was playing Jesus Christ.

Sure. And I'm actually I actually I'm crucified. So I was on a cross with a fake crown of thorns and stuff in my hands with, you know, makeup, you know, false nails stuck in them and stuff. M

and I remember thinking, why why are they not rolling the camera? Why are they not saying action and stuff? And they were all the the team of the evangelical people, they were all praying. Oh, I was standing there and I was like, my arms were getting so shaky.

And I'm looking down at Belfast and I'm seeing armored cars going up and down and sirens going and stuff and saying, "This is [ __ ] crazy." But I love it. yearning for a nice little one act.

Yes. You and you're thinking you're thinking I finally made it. Yeah. That's so funny.

So you But you So then you move to England and you start and you start your film career in England really in in earnest at that point. Yeah. I mean that was

No, I uh I moved down to Dublin. Okay. and was fortunate enough to do a couple of plays there and then I joined the Abbey Theater which was Ireland is Ireland's national theater I guess uh was there for a while and I did uh a production of Steinbecks of Men

and yes John Borman the film director who lives in Ireland he came to see it and he was putting together this film Excalibur

about Arthurian legends and and he asked me would I play Sir Gane And I was in this film and uh with the shining suits of armor, myself, my best buddy Kieran Hines was was

Sir Lot. Mhm. And uh and the the the bug really got me down. This I thought this is just

But it must be tough. I mean you you started your first film role, you're playing Jesus. I mean everything after that is kind of a step down. I mean you know when he comes to you says do you want to play this knight? You're like guy I was Jesus in the last one. So,

how do you even prepare an audition to play Jesus? I mean, practicing your faces in the mirror playing Jesus Christ. I would not really know where to where to go. How did you even research that, you know?

Yeah. I don't know how uh I can see the the the gentleman's face, Mr. Anderson. I think it was Ken Anderson who was in charge of this little outreach. And I I I I didn't do an audition. I just met him. and uh he knew I was Catholic, Irish Catholic, and uh we never really spoke about professional questions and and uh and this shoot was only about 3 weeks or something, you know.

Uh you just reminded me there I had a vision of Will, didn't you play Jesus Christ uh on Arrested for one of your illusions? Didn't Job had like a some sort of a religious themed illusion? And I remember you in some sort of a loin cloth.

Yeah. And then I went into the cave and I was going to come back. Uh and then I got stuck in there

and and started whining. Yeah, it was a really it was a very not a very wellthoughtout illusion by my

And you ate nothing but uh uh plums and turnups for a few weeks just to prepare for that scene. They ended up they ended up finding me cuz I got there was a false uh u sort of back on the the the cave that I had put on the stage. And then they ended up

uh they were uh one of those storage facilities and they were they were doing one of those uh faux um

you know those shows where they go into storage facilities and they auction off all the stuff and they find this rock and they find me living in there.

Oh boy. Sort of months later I've in this cave and I was very thin at the time. Uh, and then uh um but I So, Liam, you mentioned uh uh Tony Hopkins and for Tracy in Wisconsin. By the way, Liam, if you're not, I I don't imagine you're a listener of the podcast, but Tracy is Sean's sister in Wisconsin. So, anytime we mention something that people might not know, we we we talk to Tracy and explain to her

specifically the inside baseball of uh of Show Biz. Yeah. So, so Tracy, Tony Hopkins is Sir Anthony Hopkins, and you worked together the first time, I imagine, on The Bounty. Is that right?

That's right. It was the bounty and we shot it in Maria which is an island, beautiful island just off Tahiti.

O and u Oh my god, I turned 31. So I turned 70 and June of this year. So it's a bunch of years ago.

First of all, you look incredible. Please let me be as Yeah. At 7. Yeah, you look incredible. But I know it's but but so you you meet So you're there and you're you've only made a few films at that point. Am I right? You made sort of five or six films.

Yeah, I'd done some stuff in Ireland and some miniseries in in England and but now you're you're there and you're in Tahiti with uh with Tony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.

Tony and Mel Daniel Day Lewis uh a bunch of great uh British actors and you had trouble casting it, huh?

Real trouble. But yeah, but you made do. What was that experience like making? loved that. I bring it up just because I loved that film so much. I remember as a as a youth I I watched it many times.

Oh gosh. Um yeah, it was it was it was good. It was six day weeks and uh I just we all just loved Tony because he as well as been you know uh Captain Blie, he played brilliantly.

Um he took he took care of us. He took care of his crew and a lot of the crew were were guys just fresh out of drama school in England, you know, first job and there you are in Tahiti, you know, and um but Tony just took care of us and I'll never forget that quality he had and uh we had a lovely a great director Roger Donaldson uh knew from New Zealand but he and Tony didn't get on terribly well because he would do endless takes like I remember one day 27 takes of hoisting the princess, Tahesian princess up onto the bounty.

Oh god. Like 27 tags and the the sun beating down and stuff and um what's the point of my story? I it was just great. It was a great experience. But but we all started developing that. What's the opposite of cabin fever when you're surrounded by water all the time? There's a there's a a scientific there's a medical

name for it. So if somebody sent you out a newspaper from Britain or Ireland, you would read this from cover to cover.

Sure. And then someone would uh you you'd give it to your friend to read to you know by this stage the the newspaper's a week old, 10 days old and then you'd start I'd say Richard where's my paper? I said but but you read it you you finished it. It doesn't matter. I want it back.

Mhm. So there was, you know, we were there for three months, so we were just all starting to get on each other other's nerves.

Yeah. If you watch The Bounty today, do you do you think you would have notes for your performance? Has your has your style of acting changed over the years? Uh that that that presupposes that you watch what you do. Are you one of those actors that that watches what you do?

Cuz some some don't like to. Uh no, I don't. I do. I I like to say at least once. I mean, if I'm playing the lead,

Yeah. Yeah. I I I'd watch it at least a couple of times, but that's it. This is while you're shooting, right? You'll watch one of the playbacks to see if you're kind of on the right track.

No, I I I don't do that. I don't unless it's some technical thing where the the director needs me to be on the left and I think, "No, I should be on the right of this character, for example."

Well, you'll watch the final product, though. I Yeah. Yeah, I would watch it. So, what about your So, what about your style? I just I asked Edwards because I'm so I get so cringey when I look at the old stuff that I've done and I, oh my god, I do it so differently today because you have such a such a wide body of work. I'd imagine it would be pretty fun or scary or what for you to look at all the stuff you've done way back when.

Oh god. Yeah, it's it's overacting, isn't it? I don't know if you ever feel that. Anytime I see something, I think, "Oh, God."

That's what I notice I try to do is do less and less every year. Yeah. Yeah. If I do something, I I used to when I was younger would watch um would watch it once. And now I don't watch anything I do. And if somebody comes up to me says that was really good, I'll check it out. But if nobody says that to me, I don't need to see it.

Yeah. But Sean Sean Sean, you were on a very popular uh comedy sitcom for many years.

The Millers. Yes. Yeah. The Millers that we were on together. Uh um and uh we you were you were like in you know in the top one of the top shows for for many years and it was it would be hard to avoid that. I want to ask you this. So how how did you avoid that? Did you you must have seen episodes of your show when it was on the air because it was kind of everywhere.

Yeah, Liam, take a seat just for a second. Um I would um No, I I would want I would Yes, you're right. It would the reruns when they used to have reruns and all that stuff and I it is hard to avoid but the reboot of the Will and Grace three seasons I haven't seen one episode just because

just like everybody else I was there. Yeah. Just like everyone else. I heard that.

So you wouldn't have viewing parties Sean of your stuff. Maybe when I was like 27 and I was on Liam I want to ask you something you know with the because you mentioned 100 films. It's just an unbelievable accomplishment. There has to be an award for that or something or we'll make one for you and send it. Um,

and by the way, that includes, you know, narrating documentaries and stuff. Yeah. But that's

And let's not forget the one you did with my sister called Satisfaction where she played a little rock and roll star. And

Oh, yeah. True. Oh, yeah. She played she played the lead of a band. And what what did you I forget. Oh, I saw that.

Did you play the the manager, the band manager or something? No, I I was a retired ex kind of Keith Richards sort of guy.

Um, it's funny. Yeah. I think they wanted me to manage them or so, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You did not submit that that year for Academy Consideration. Did you? No. No. No.

Wait, Jason, I remember that film. That was your sister's kind of breakout attempt from Family Time.

I remember that film. I think Julia Roberts was in the film, too. I think was it like 30 years ago?

Yeah, it was a long time. Julia I know Julia was Julia was 19. Wow. So, that made me I was 30 34.

How do you You're crazy with numbers. How do you remember? 31 years old, 19 years old.

He's like Will Arnette. Are you one of those people that can remember what you did like April of last year versus June of last year?

No, that I can't. Will Arnette. I can. Yeah. Names. Names, too. I'm I'm the older I get, I have real trouble with names. And even if I'm calling my sisters, I have three sisters. I get their names confused.

It's tough. I know. Jason's the same with names. J Well, Jason's the same with faces. cuz I was just going to say,

right, I think I discovered my uh smallest dog uh yesterday who, you know, we've had for

eight years now. I think he's got fa uh facial blindness, right? Whatever that thing is.

He barks at me every day. And usually about 30 seconds after he just saw me last, and he'll look at me like I'm a stranger that's just broken in through the through the side window and I'm coming in to do a lot of damage. I'm like, "Guy, I just fed you." The actor in you wants desperately for him to recognize you.

Please. I walk around with my head shot and it's signed. He doesn't want it. I watched You always have a stack of head shots with you, which I I admire. I think that takes a lot of

try to disarm some sort of unfriendly. Yeah. Yeah. But Jason, your dog's interesting. May maybe it's that is interesting. I adore dogs. I do. That's fascinating.

I do too. But not this one. Jason, by the way, speaking of your dog, I met this guy yesterday. You know, Frank, your dog, uh,

a top dog. Your top dog. Uh, I met a guy yesterday, and this is a true story. I forgot to tell you. And he said,

"My dog is Jason's dog, Frank's brother." And I said, "No kidding." And he said, "Yeah, the guy who I

Oh, first of all, my dog's name is Hank. Nice to meet you, dog, Frank." And so his dog is related to my dog, Hank. Now, this

My dog's name Your dog's name is is uh Petrol. Nice try. Peter, you didn't you didn't remember either.

Shane Bella. Bella. Oh, yeah. Bella. Bella. Bella. So, uh, yeah. Now, that that's my other dog who's uh he recognizes me right away. He's very loving, very lovely. Um, I don't have a problem with him. Yeah. Hey,

Sean, we we all cut you off. Sean, go. No, I just was interested in our guest. Favorite color, Liam. Did I guess it? Did I guess it, Sean? No. Now you've told us your funny theater story. What's your funny movie story? He's the worst man. I'm so

I want I don't want to get into movie stories, but I'm surprised Sean hasn't asked this yet because I'm fascinated. One of the great films of all time, Schindler's List and how that experience came to be for you.

Well, I was going to ask that, too. I know. I'm I know everybody wants to know it, but I don't know this any stories, and it's one of my favorite films.

Yeah. Um uh I was living out in uh Los Angeles at the time and I my agent sent me this script which was just breathtakingly

Mhm. horrible and beautiful and incredibly well written and I knew Steven Spielberg a little bit.

Was it Eric Roth or Steven? One of the two. Steve Zalen. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Jason. Steve Alien. And uh and I had read for Stephen with a bunch of kids when he was casting Empire of the Sun.

Oh wow. Christian Bale's first movie, right? I I guess he remembered me and he so I was asked to go in and meet him for Schindler's List and uh and I had uh you know because it's set in the 1940s I hired a 40 suit and I tried to uh keep my hair short and stuff and and uh and I spent about two two and a half hours with Steven and Steven had a camera. We were, it was just he and I in a room and I prepared a couple of little speeches from the film, the script and uh and then after it was over, he said, "Thank you very much." And I felt great. I thought, "Well, if I don't get this, I've spent two and a half, three hours with one of the great

Yeah. movie makers of our time." Yeah. Um, and then I went to Yeah. I went to New York after that to do a play. I had to I had to get on the stage again. I thought you were going to say then I went to Ed Debe and got a dream but

so you go to New York to do a play. How long did you make you wait? Well, it was quite a few weeks. I was doing this play where I met my wife. It was called The play was called Anna Christie.

Mhm. I met my wife and Stephen and his wife Kate and Kate's mom came to see the play

and they came backstage afterwards which is very sweet of them. And uh I opened my door and I was half undressed and stuff. I said, "Oh my god, Stephen, she I'm sorry. Let me put a robe on or something." And Kate's mom was quite emotional, quite tearary after the the performance, the play. And I went and just gave her a hug. Apparently on the way when they when they were left and they were driving back home, uh Kate said to Steven, "That's just what Schindler would have done." Now, Stephen told me, "No, it was your audition, you know, uh, that got you the part." But, uh, I like the story of, you know, that's what Schindler would have done. Like,

what what was the what's the great quote from, uh, the man who shot Liberty Valance when, uh, when the legend becomes fact,

print the legend, you know? I like to think it's because I hugged Kate's mom, you know, that got me the part.

Ah, that's great. And now, a word from our sponsor. And now back to the show. Working with you've worked with so many great directors. Um, can you remember anything that from any of them? I imagine Spielberg would be right near the top of it that really kind of took your breath away like ah that is the difference in great directing versus good directing. Was is there anything that was super noticeable about what he or any of the other incredible directors you've worked with have have done? Their ability to to make a set comfortable? Um uh the way in which they work with the crew? Uh anything that that stands out maybe even specifically about Steven with that film cuz it was just so finely done.

It was interesting with Steven because it was the first film he had done without using a story board. Normally he always uses storyboard and you can go up and see the

cartoons drawn of what you're going to shoot. Yeah. He didn't. And he, you know, he was telling the story of his his people.

Yeah. His Jewish people. And he was incredibly nervous. He felt the responsibility of the story he was telling. Yeah.

Yeah. And I remember the first day uh we we finished the play here in New York on Sunday, Sunday afternoon. I flew out on Monday and I as far my memory as far as I can remember it was either Tuesday morning or the Wednesday morning like 5:30 in the morning we were at the gates of Ashvitz the real Avitz in Poland and I think the World Jewish Congress I think that's the right name didn't give Steven permission to shoot inside Avitz

but the production design team did a brilliant job we shot outside of Ashvitz but made it seem as if it was inside.

Right. I remember that story. And uh I I was dressed in a big fur coat and hat and nice and warm even though it was unbelievably cold. And this train was coming in and all these extras were coming out as Jewish people and German extras with guard dogs and and it was it was terrifying. It was terrifying. And uh I remember I I was waiting to do my bit and I walked down, you know, by the bar wire fences and and looking inside at the huts that the you know the the Jewish people were were crammed into all those years ago. And I was just looking and Branco Lustig, who was one of the producers, he's dead now, God rest him.

But he come up to me and uh said, "How do you feel?" And I said, "Um, yeah, I'm okay, Branco. you know, I'm I'm warm enough and uh just looking forward to starting, you know, and we were looking at the huts and he pointed out to a hut and said, "See that one there? Third one from the left?" I'm making this up now, but he said, "That's where I was."

No way. At the age of six, well, I just lost it. Wow. Yeah. I lost it. My knees started to shake and I thought, "Fuck, this isn't acting. This isn't a [ __ ] movie. This is this is a piece of history we're telling here and I'm not worthy. I just kept saying to myself, I'm not [ __ ] worthy. I'm [ __ ] Irish actor. I should go back to Ireland, go into the theater. What the [ __ ] am I doing here? Dressed up in this big fruit coat and here to save these Jewish people. I It's just It was terrifying.

And uh but Steven was great. Uh and and it's a little scene where I I pull one of these girls with little Jewish girls up and because these uh prisoners shouldn't have been sent to Avitz. They're supposed to be working in my factory cuz Oscar Schindler had this armaments factory.

Yeah. And he was there to save their lives otherwise they were going to die in Avitz. So I go up to this guard and say, "How dare you do this? These are my people. They have to go back." And I'm shaking like and I I pulled a little girl up and I I was doing it too gently because I she was freezing.

Yeah. This little actress. And Steven came over to me and said, "You got to just listen. Stop the niceness. Grab her, pull her up. Her life's at stake here, you know." Yeah.

So, I had to I apologized to her. I said, "Look, I'm going to grab you quite roughly and pull you up so that this guard sees you." She was only about seven or eight years of age. Mhm.

And uh I'm supposed to say to the guard, I need I need this little girl, look those small hands so they can clean the inside of of metal casings for the

armaments, but I can never quite say the line right? You're speaking in German at this point, right?

Supposed to be. Yeah. But in English. Um but anyway, I'm rambling, Jason. I I they're all the all the directors are different, you know. their own.

Listen, I Liam, I I have such a you just reminded me the first time I saw that film because I've seen it a few times like a lot of people and so incredibly moving hearing you talk about I can't imagine feeling that and it comes across that sense of responsibility that you felt in that moment.

And I remember I was at the uh theater, the old Chelsea Theater is I don't think it's called that anymore but on 23rd at 8th Avenue. I was living in New York and

Oh yes. Yeah. Yeah. And and I remember I was seeing that film and there was that moment where there the chaos of everybody coming off the train and stuff and everybody's freaking out. Nobody knows what's going on. And at that very moment

in the theater itself, the fire alarm went off. So they've got those little lights that are blinking.

And there's a sound going and the blinking and it was it was almost like it happened.

Wow. uh you know that it was part of the film and people started freaking out in the theater and people were openly weeping because it just heightened an already very heightened moment.

Yeah. And it made everybody and it forever changed the way it it it it was just such a visceral thing to actually have happen in that moment. And uh

Yes. Yes. Yeah. Uh, what do you what do you uh what what do you get into that is uh that is not really really hard work like you usually do?

Yeah. Are you still boxing, too? Is is that part of your regimen? Um I I have a bag. Well, I have a gym and I I I use a bag sometimes, but uh I just like to I just like to read. I'm an avid reader, you know.

Really? Yeah. Wow. You guys are We're very similar, Liam. Easy. Well, no, Liam and I are very similar. I like to read and I also have a bag right out the door here. And Jason has a bag, but he keeps it behind the toilet and he just goes in there for a couple minutes at a time. Um or he plays past the bag with one of his Hollywood friends. But don't use too much of it. Yeah. I got to get through the night. Yeah. Uh

Liam, what I would like to ask this question. What drugs have you dabbled in? Because here's the thing. When you Here's the thing.

He's our secret weapon, Liam. He's the best. Keep going. Sorry, Sean. No, please. When you're doing like you said oh a hundred things like 100 films or whatever docs and everything.

Sure. And you're traveling and the time changes the night shoots and this stuff. When you were younger you're like how am I going to get through this? You had to have like partaken into something to get through all of those many many films of just endless.

Are you Cindy Adams? What is going on? You want him to admit I'll talk to you about the We've talked about the drugs we took. I I took mushroom. Tell Rona Barrett what the last time you participated in uh in some sort of illicit drug use.

You don't answer that if you don't mind. Okay. I'll bet I'll bet uh I'll bet I'll bet the way you stay up and peppy nowadays is uh is is all that exercise. I'll bet you eat well. Um sounds like you're staying nice and sane with lots of reading. It doesn't sound like you're doing a lot of things to slow yourself down or hurt yourself, huh?

No, that's about it. It's very boring. I mean, I I do I fly fish. I'd love to do that whenever I get a chance.

And we should hook you up with Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy is Yes. I I'm going to go to Jimmy's lodge sometime this year.

I don't know when. I was supposed to go last year. There's a big group of us going uh in a few months. We're going to send you the the invite. Come on up.

We're going to go this summer. Then you can teach. Are you really? Yeah. Swear to God. Yeah.

Well, it it it looks spectacular. It's stunning. It's he's he's really done a great job with it.

I can't wait. Oh, that's terrific. I can't wait. Sean, do you still Sean, you still want to know about Liam's drug use, right? No.

Oh, yeah. Sorry. Sorry, Sean. No, no, no. Um I You don't have to answer this garbage question Liam.

Interesting. You just No, it's it's fair enough. And I'm not trying to avoid it. I I just uh certainly when I was in Ireland in the theater,

after shows, we'd go to the local pub, you know, and have I adored Guinness. Absolutely adored it.

Yeah. Same. And then you turn a certain age and it sticks to you. You know what I mean? You start putting on weight and it's like, "Oh my god."

Yeah. And I switched to red wine. I absolutely adored that. And that put that puts on less less weight, but there's the hangovers. Not as fun.

Right. Yeah. All that sugar. Uh I stopped drinking eight. Yeah. Just over eight years ago.

Wow. I must say I don't miss it. Oh, that's Same here. Jason, we don't we don't drink I I don't drink uh I don't drink basically out of vanity. I can admit that. But but that's okay.

What's what's the remaining vices for for all of us? I mean my it's pathetic with me. It's uh it's Yeah. It's like sugar um and like crunchy salty snacks

and uh you know Jay. Yeah. Oh no. Hot gummies. Oh. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Gummies. Well, I mean is that a vice? I don't know. It's legal nowadays.

Jason, have you tried those? Lima, have you tried the gummies with the THC in it

and the CBD? No, I have I have gummies with the CBD and a little bit of melatonin. I take those every night.

Yeah. Puts you right out. I I do have trouble sleeping. Jason's got some other stuff for you. And the first one's free.

First one's free. I'm just going to just stay on afterwards. Let me get your PO box or something. You People still use PO boxes.

Sean, you like you like weed. You like to smoke weed every once in a while? Well, I don't I haven't smoked any years. I can't smoke it anymore. But um but I do I do eat the the gums.

The gummies as well. You don't mind that. And then what's your other advice? You like uh you don't drink coffee. Do you drink coffee, Liam? Are you a coffee guy?

No, I I I give up caffeine. Um, I know. So [ __ ] boring. No, you're very disappointed.

And And I'm I'm constantly This uh it's a mug. Uh what is that? Okay. It's a Stanley mug. I adore them. It keeps uh my black decaf tea hot for five or six hours.

Oh. And it's also my little security blanket, you know. Sure. I mean, I take it on set. I try and get it into every movie.

Oh, you do? You try to get in. Do you ever smash guys in the face with it? because you're in these accur Clash of the Titans. That's going to happen. That is going to happen.

What do you Are you doing anything currently that you're embarrassed of? Any any crappy TV you're watching? Any Are you You say you read a lot? Are you reading a comic book that you're not that you're not proud to reveal to anybody?

No. Um crime. I I I've I'm I'm still into my Nordic noir crime. Oh, no. Here comes Will.

Like Nesbo. Nesbo and those guys. Yeah, Nesbbo's good. and and Henning Manuel who passed away about four years ago. He he was just extraordinary and I just played um Philip Marlo in my last film. Uh so I I had never read much to my shame Raymond Chandler before. So I I I read most of his stuff for preparation I guess.

Will has met his match with the smokiest voice on this podcast. Oh god. Do you guys do any voiceover work?

We've done three we've done three films together. There it should be. No. And the other and we've never met. And also uh we were talking before about Ray Fines. Uh he also was in Lego Batman and played Alfred to my Batman and we had a lot of scenes together. Oh,

I didn't know that. Yeah. And we have yet to meet and I uh I'm just such a fan. I can't wait.

Terrific. Liam, do you do any voiceover work other than uh the the the animation every once in a while? Are you the voice of any particular product uh on television? You do any commercial stuff? You know, because Will Will talks about GMC trucks all the time and uh yes,

lucky for them, he's still doing it. I don't I I like doing documentaries and uh I've done quite a few of those and uh

the products. No, you should. My god, Liam, you would clean. Have you done any of the Ken Burns documentaries?

I Yes, I have actually. During lockdown, I did uh oh, there's one on Anne Frank that's coming out.

Oh, that's cool. I played Anne Frank's father. Uh just a few lines and the current one on uh

Benjamin Franklin, I think, has come out. I I have a small part. Is that one out yet or No,

not yet. Ken Burns is a genius, man. He's been on the show. He was incredible guest.

We had him on We had him on Yeah. You did? Yeah. And he's so erodite and he's just um

Did you see the Yali? The Aliham Ali? I haven't seen that one yet. And I I have to say and Muhammad Ali was is always will be my idol. Always was. I just

Yeah, that documentary is incredible. The one he did on World War II is incredible, too, called The War.

World War II. But the the the American Civil War, I have to watch that at least once a year. It's incredible.

And it came out, I don't know, 25 years ago or something. Well, you I love that you that you love uh Muhammad Ali because you were and I mentioned before you did you did box a little bit, amateur boxer for a couple years there.

Yeah, I I started when I was nine. I think I had my last fight when I was like 17 or something.

Wow. Oh my god. That's old enough to get hurt. Yeah, it was starting to hurt. It was

cuz like kids punch each other all the time, but then you become a teenager and you got to really you got to really be pissed off if you're going to get into that cuz you can get hurt. So, but boxing, so you were boxing as a as a as a young adult or adult. True. Uh, right. I mean,

well, at the age of 13, 14, I started to shoot up. I mean, I'm 6'4 now and I then I guess I was about 6' three or something and the punches were Yeah, they were starting to hurt, you know,

and uh I I remember once coming we we had a tournament in my our little local parochial hall in my hometown back in Ireland and I was boxing this guy and I I actually won the fight, but I felt my heart of hearts I didn't win that fight. But when I came out of the ring, my trainer said, "Okay, Liam, go on downstairs and put your clothes on." And

and I was I was fix your face. I I But I I had I I didn't know what he meant. Clothes.

Oh, no. Go down. I It was weird. And that that was like a a kind of a strange concussion, you know?

So, that was that was my last fight. I I knew enough to think, "Fuck this. I'm I'm getting out of this."

You know, I did I did a um A friend of ours, Lisa Kudro, produced this show called Who Do You Think You Are? And it traces your ancestry.

She hit you hard in the face during the shooting of that. And all of my ancestors, you know, from Ireland, I'm Irish as well. And we went over to Ireland. Everybody is a drunk and a thug. Everybody fought and just

There's a great quote. Thanks, Sean. We just My ancestors of my ancestors, of your ancestors, not everyone in the country.

No, not everybody Irish, but all my ancestors were just thugs and drunks. And it's like, why is everybody I don't know. Everybody just seems to be loves to be in fights.

Where where are they from, Sean? Where where do your family hang? Dingle and uh

Oh, Dingle. Beautiful. County Carry and uh Yeah. All around. You ever go back there, Sean?

Just for that the show I did. It was just a fight. Just a fight. It's so pretty over there, right?

Oh, it's unbelievable. I think it's like the Oh, Dingle. Dingle's very very special.

My grandfather's from Dingle and uh the beautiful fruit from there. The Dingleberries. Have you tried?

No. No. Will I'm thinking of something else. You are. Liam, we've taken way too much of your time. You're God, it we could talk to you forever. You're just such a fascinating guy and and one of those just such a great performer and and I'm just in awe of your talent and shut up for such a kind, kind man, too. Um, so thank you for spending some time with us on your off day here. Thank you, Liam. Jason, can I say to you, I I know I said this to you before when I saw you at the garden a couple of years ago, three years ago or something. Please give Victoria, your mom, my love.

Now he's showing off. This guy is the nicest guy in the world. He meets my mother one time on a Panama flight. She was a steartist for PM flight attendant for Panama. Yeah.

20 years later, he runs into me. He's never met me before, but I guess she had mentioned when she had met him that I was her son. So, this is 20 years later. We're we're back back uh at a Ranger game at Madison Square Garden and I see Liam Niss and I'm like, "Oh my god, I totally forgotten that my mother had said anything that she'd met him. He stops me. He says, "Hey, hey, you're Jason. I met your mother x number of years ago on a plane and how is she? Is she doing knew remembered her name?" It just knocked me out. And then when I told my mother that she cried for a week.

I mean, yeah. So, uh, thank you so much for being such a kind man. Oh, please. And and Justine, too. Please, please give him my

I will tell her for sure. And it's it's and it's it's something and I I can't quite remember, Jason, but it was a flight from either Los Angeles to London, Panama, which doesn't exist of course. Yeah.

Or from London to LA. I can't remember. And I was just I was very vulnerable. Not because I have a fear of flying. I don't. Something was happening and for some reason Victoria, your mom, spotted something in me and she just took care of me.

Yeah. She'd bring me tea and check on me every so often and I'll just never forget it, you know. And it was she was

these both look at both these guys just writing jokes. As soon as you said take care of me, they both of them wrote about he followed up and said with with a cup of tea. with a cup of tea. Oh, they put their pens down.

Me, too. Yeah. No, she was very accommodating. Well, that's very sweet. It's It's so great. And again, uh Liam, such a fan. And thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, honestly. I'm It's an honor to to talk with you, the three of you. Thank you so much.

Can you say hi to Laura if you talk to her before I do? I sure will. I love her so much.

She's going over to Ireland, I think, in May to shoot a film. Oh, I'm going over there to shoot a film with my best dear friend Kieran Hines.

Oh, yeah. We're going to shoot a film in Donnie Gaul. You're not killing anybody in that, are you?

Oh, yeah. Quite a few. You are. Yeah, of course. Quite a few. Quite a few. He said,

"Why do you think he took the part?" The Pope Catholic. Come on. Uh, the great Liam Niss. Thank you so much, our friend.

Thanks, guys. So nice of you to do this. Thank you, Liam. Oh, it's great. Thanks, boys. Take care. See you later. Oh, the great Liam Niss.

When he came on the screen, I was like, "What? That's so what? Liam Niss? He's so like iconic. It's so crazy."

When I was like I wanted to have him on the show and then they said and and Michael MGT said, "Yeah, we're going to have Liam Niss. He's going to do it." I thought like, "Is this really going to happen?"

Yeah. How'd you do that, Willie? Yeah. I I don't know. I have no idea. I think he I think that he thought, you know, I mean, he knew you a little bit and he was such a fan. talked about seeing us at the garden another time and he wanted to come say hi and he did not. And uh

uh and his new movie Memory uh comes out uh April 29th um which is uh the guy God's made.

I didn't even get a chance to ask him about Star Wars. Too bad there's not enough Star Wars in the world. I know. Thank God. It's such a shame that we never had an opportunity to talk about [ __ ] Star Wars. He was in so many Star Wars movies and then he was like a he was one of those um stormtroopers in the Force Awakens.

And you spent your time with Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to Clash of the Titans.

That's right. God, you're going to lose you're going to lose your card. I swear.

Sean, I loved I I really out of deference to you, I I wanted to start it off by asking about theater stories because

Thank you. I have so much because he started in the theater. I know. I love that. Thank you. Yeah, I love that. I love you'd think people would have like at the ready.

Well, it turns out it does start to feel like the only only embarrassing things in the theater happened to you.

Yeah. And Kristen Chennowith and Christian Chennith and and the time that you poisoned Christian I forget how the story went, but but

maybe she just had an anxiety attack because the curtain call was such complicated blocking. So, let's just go back. So, you came from either side of the So, it was sort of like a buy entrance. Was it a buy entrance? entrance.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Are we done? That's it. Bye. I don't endorse it. Smart. Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbco, and Michael Grant Terry. Smart less.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "RE-RELEASE: Liam Neeson | SmartLess"?

In order: 0:00 George Bernard Shaw, Honest Thief, Memory, Schindler's List; 10:00 Clash of the Titans, The Crucible, Arrested Development, Kinsey; 20:00 Belfast, Tahiti, Anthony Hopkins, Cave Hill; 30:00 Schindler's List, The Bounty, Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun; 40:00 Anna Christie, Guinness, Memory, Poland; 50:00 Ken Burns, Muhammad Ali, Clash of the Titans, Dingle; 1:00:00 Clash of the Titans, Force Awakens, Memory, Michael Grant Terry.

What is mentioned in this SmartLess episode?

87 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Schindler's List, Clash of the Titans, Belfast, Memory, The Bounty, Tahiti. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "RE-RELEASE: Liam Neeson | SmartLess"?

The episode runs 1 h 3 min; the transcript is about 12,811 words in 322 timestamped sections.

More from SmartLess

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated November 18, 2025.