In the film, Neeson plays Daniel, a man whose wife dies, leaving him to raise alone an 11-year-old stepson, Sam (played by the adorable Thomas Sangster.) Distraught over the loss of his mate and unsure how to relate to his charge, Daniel is relieved to discover he and the boy have something in common after all-both are experiencing heartbreak because they can’t be with the women they love. Unable to help himself, Daniel aids Sam in winning his pint-sized lady’s heart. Under Daniel’s tutelage, Sam learns to play the drums to impress the girl and when he experiences a setback, father and son seek comfort in that sacred writ of star-crossed love, the 1997 film “Titanic.”
“I’ve always admired Richard’s writing and was terribly chuffed that he thought of me for this,” the 51-year-old Ballymena native has said. “There is a kind of gravitas to the character, which I’m drawn to, but there are also chances to be light, and a little silly, which I loved doing. Richard has caught an aspect of that side of humanity in the script-that one minute you can be terribly sad and depressed, and then be able to flip and be happy and smiling. That’s the stuff of life.”
Asked how much he and young Thomas bonded before filming began, Neeson told reporters in London recently he and the boy met only once at a brief rehearsal supervised by his mother.
“Which was slightly off-putting, but it wasn’t like that on set,” he recalled.
Although the on-screen father and son did not have much time to prepare for their scenes together, they realized instantly there was something special between them.
“I love actors,” Neeson remarked. “I have quite a lot of experience working with child actors and some of it has been okay and some of it has not been okay, but with Thomas it was quite wonderful because I think we did have a chemistry, which was wonderful to explore and trust and I loved him for that. It’s great to discover that, not to force or tread on that, just to let it breathe and I think Richard did that with us.”
Sam and Daniel’s story is just one of eight compelling tales of devotion the first-time director brilliantly intertwines in “Love Actually.” Alternating between hilarious and heart-warming, the feel-good movie (written and directed by the acclaimed scribe of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary”) offers looks at the complicated relationships of Jamie, a jilted writer (Colin Firth) in love with Aurelia, his housekeeper (Lucia Moniz,) who doesn’t speak English; a young Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) smitten by his assistant (Martine McCutcheon,) Natalie; and Harry (Alan Rickman) and Karen (Emma Thompson,) a couple whose marriage is tested when Harry’s co-worker casts her eye on him. Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Kris Marshall and Bill Nighy also wrestle with various affairs of the heart.
One look at the assembled cast and it is easy to wonder how so many talented actors competing for screen time managed to check their egos at the door.
“Actors never give up their ego!” Neeson declared. “We place it in different places. We surrender it to a point, but only to a point.”
“I so have to disagree with you,” interrupted Linney, who co-starred with Neeson in the Broadway production of “The Crucible” and will appear with him in the upcoming film “Kinsey.” “I have worked with this man a lot and he is one of the most egoless people to work with. Period. In many ways, I think that while there is the idea that you have to be really selfish to be an actor, it’s really the opposite. You have to be as selfless as possible for the work to really work. That’s not true for everybody, but I’ve certainly noticed that things in which I’m happiest and things that tend to come together the best-that’s the essential quality. That it’s always the story first. It’s always the experience first. The other person first. This was just great fun. This is a huge baseball team of people.”
In addition to the pleasant experience he had making the film, Neeson said he was pleased the movie will be released at a time when people need to be reminded love is, in fact, all around us.
“Yes, it is timely,” he noted. “It is nice to be reminded of love and our interdependence on each other and how great it can be when you do connect with each other.”
“It’s a good reminder that love takes many, many forms,” added Linney. “And to look for it maybe just in a traditional sense is to limit your resources of support on a day-to-day basis. So, I think for that it is very important since the world has been turned upside down for many of us and it’s such an odd, different time.”