Liam Neeson says he was considered for the role of James Bond in the 1990s but declined because of the wishes of his late wife Natasha Richardson.

The actor appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Thursday where he revealed that shortly after his appearance in Schindler’s List in 1993, producer Barbara Broccoli approached him about playing the iconic role of James Bond 007.

The 69-year-old actor recalled that he was aware that the producers were considering several actors, and that he was reportedly one of them.

On The Late Late Show with James Corden on June 23, Liam said, “I know they were looking at various actors and I apparently was among them. However, my dear, departed wife did say to me…’Darling, if you’re offered James Bond and you’re going to play it, you’re not going to marry me.'”

Neeson joked, “Anytime we had arguments after that, I would go up to her and [sing the Bond theme].”

Liam and Natasha first became friends when they appeared together on Broadway in Anna Christie in 1993. For their performances, both actors received Tony Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress.

One year later, the couple got married, and they went on to have two kids: Michael, 26, and Daniel, 24.

At the age of 45, Richardson passed away in 2009. She was injured on the head while skiing at Quebec’s Mount Tremblant. The actress fell on a beginner’s slope and suffered blunt force trauma. She initially declined medical care after the accident.

A few years later, Neeson discussed his grief in detail.

“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,” he explained in 2014.

The 2020 movie Made in Italy, about a father and son dealing with the loss of the family matriarch, was created in her honor by Liam and their oldest son Micheal.

Micheal, who adopted his mother’s in 2018 as a tribute claimed to have “felt” Natasha’s presence during the filming.

“When you lose somebody so close to you, sometimes you just push it away and out of your head because the thought of them hurts, but I found that’s an unhealthy thing to do. You have to remember them,” Michael said in a previous interview with People magazine.

Micheál has struggled to cope with his loss.

In July 2020, he said to Vanity Fair, “I think the pain was a little too overwhelming.”

“I think the mind is very powerful, and subconsciously, or unconsciously, it can protect you. That’s what it did when she passed. I just pushed it aside and didn’t want to deal with it.”

“I don’t, even still, think that I’ve fully comprehended it, and that seems to be a similar journey to a lot of people I’ve spoken to,” he remembered. “Fifty-year-olds who lost their parents when they were 12, 13… One day they’re out gardening, and something comes over them and they just break down.”

He compared her to her Parent Trap character, saying, “That’s more or less what she was like. She was this sweet, amazing mother figure—my best friend. She had these amazing, big welcomes when we’d come home or she would come home.”

“I’m so lucky because I have her captured on film,” he said.

Currently, is it Daniel Craig who is portraying James Bond on the big screen. No Time to Die, which is set for release later this year, will feature the actor’s last reprisal of the character.

It has been suggested that Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles, Henry Golding, and a number of other actors should play the next agent 007. The identity of the potential next James Bond has not yet been officially confirmed.

Many actors rejected Bond