Liam Neeson was tipped for the role of James Bond but turned it down as his late wife, Natasha Richardson, asked him to. In the early 1990s, Neeson was asked to take on the legendary role but refused as Natasha said she wouldn't marry him if he took the part. Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail, the actor said ""I was heavily courted, let's put it that way, and I'm sure some other actors were too," the actor revealed. "It was about 18 or 19 years ago and my wife-to-be said, ‘If you play James Bond we're not getting married!' And I had to take that on board, because I did want to marry her." The look of love between Natasha and Liam They had two sons, now teenagers Micheál (18) and Daniel (17 ), together before Natasha died in a tragic skiing accident in Montreal, Canada in March 2009. Speaking about the first time they met, Neeson said previously, "She was a radiant beauty. Yeah, cascading hair. I remember. There was -- that was very, very attractive. 'I'd never had that kind of an explosive chemistry situation with an actor, or actress." In a recent interview with Anderson Cooper, the star spoke candidly about his late wife. Neeson said: "It hits you. It’s like a wave. You just get this profound feeling of instability. The Earth isn’t stable anymore and then it passes and it becomes more infrequent, but I still get it sometimes. "(Her death) was never real, it still kind of isn't. There’s periods now in our New York residence when I hear the door opening, especially the first couple of years. Anytime I hear that door opening, I still think I’m going to hear her."