Liam Neeson: Puttin' on the Ritz

It's a good hour before Neeson even brings up the subject of sex. By this time, he has gotten up at least twice to fill our glasses. Up until now, our conversation has been a little bit like a cross between a seminar and a nostalgia binge. But his first mention of sex has nothing to do with women. No, when Neeson first talks about sex, he's thinking about his on-again, off-again love affair with something really hot. Cigarettes. What? "The first time I lit one," he sighs, looking out past the balcony to the panorama of Central Park, "I had an erection."

Now that we are talking about sex, sort of, I ask Neeson if the rumors about him and Barbra Streisand are true. He grows suddenly coy. "She's a friend," he says, squirming in his seat for the first time. "That's all I'm gonna say. She's a friend."

Neeson is pretty clearly not the kind of guy to dish anyone, not the women he's dated, not the women he's worked with. He has virtually nothing to say about interactions with Cher on Suspect, or Diane Keaton on The Good Mother, or Joanne Whalley-Kilmer on Crossing the Line, or Melanie Griffith on his newest film, Shining Through, or Laura San Giacomo on his other newest film, Under Suspicion. Nor does he say anything about Andie MacDowell, with whom he's just finished shooting Ruby Cairo, though he does mention how much he likes her kids.

But as the clock ticks ominously toward 5 p.m., Neeson suddenly grows more animated and seems eager to talk more about women--at least in the abstract. He says he's been in love three or four times and close to marriage once or twice. "I got near it a couple of times. But then it was always the work. I felt as if I were off racing around the globe. Just try and keep romance going on the phone."

Frequently, Neeson says, he'd return from location to find he'd outgrown the relationship. "You find you've moved on. You've outgrown some aspect of life that the other person hasn't. In my heart, I'm usually the one who's left."

Neeson was not reportedly the one who left when his two-year, live-in relationship with Julia Roberts broke up. But whatever the circumstances, Neeson has nothing but good to say about Roberts. It is the one time during the interview when his measured articulation is overshadowed by emotion. "I'm proud of the fact that I loved Julia and Julia loved me." His interest in her now seems a bit paternal as well. "I was glad she didn't get married to Kiefer," Neeson says. "She's too young."

Neeson met Roberts on Satisfaction when she wasn't a star yet and Justine Bateman still was. He says he recognized Roberts's star potential right away. "I knew she had something then," he says of Roberts. "We all did. The camera loves her." Star quality appeals to him. "I love physical beauty and talent," he says. "I don't care if they're a concert pianist."

Roberts has moved on several times since Neeson, but don't expect any Joan Collins-style kiss and tell from him. More like William Butler Yeats. "As Yeats said," Neeson intones. "We live as we dream--alone." (Actually, it was Joseph Conrad who said that.)

Neeson's in New York for a meeting with Woody Allen. He was summoned last week and flew in from Los Angeles last night just to see Allen about a part in his next movie. The meeting took a little over five minutes, a fairly lengthy session for Allen and one of the classy actors he calls in to see. "I was glad for him that it didn't last long," Neeson says. "He seemed so shy."

A few minutes later, Neeson checks the time. It's a little past 5 p.m. He's told me that tonight he plans to hang out at De Niro's Tribeca Grill downtown. It's not clear whether the woman with invisible cameras will accompany him. At any rate, he indicates the interview should wind down. Sort of. As my notebook is put away, he switches into another gear.

"So," he says suddenly, leaning forward slightly with a smile I haven't seen before. "Tell me about yourself."

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