It was a chance to work with kids again. I love working with children 
Antrim-born Liam Neeson first came to prominence in Sam Raimi's 1990 mini-hit Darkman. His impressive CV includes Schindler's List, Nell, Rob Roy, and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. For his first romantic comedy, Liam joins the ensemble cast of Love Actually.
We don't really know you for romantic comedies, so why did you decide to be a part of this one?
I'd always loved Richard Curtis' work... Blackadder, Mr. Bean, Four Weddings And A Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary. And it was a chance to work with kids again. I love working with children and this young boy, Thomas Sangster, is quite a remarkable young actor. He raises your game, you know. He certainly raised mine.
You're the father of two boys. Did that help your relationship with Thomas?
My eldest is eight and Thomas is actually about 12, although he plays a ten-year-old in the movie. But yeah, being a dad certainly helped with some of these scenes.
Explain the premise of the movie and how it all fits together...
The film follows the relationships of about a dozen people. They're all discovering different facets of love, looking for it, trying to consolidate it. The film is a series of little vignettes but overall, they form into a kind of cohesive whole. It's a romantic comedy but it has a certain edge to it and some of it's sad as well as happy. It's like life.
Do you ever feel it gets a little too mushy, though?
You know, I think Richard gets away with it. He's very, very clever. He understands the medium he writes for and if I may say it, we're all good actors in this film and we have a certain amount of deftness in keeping it from being too saccharine.
