According to Liam Neeson, the passing of his late wife Natasha Richardson was the primary factor that led to him deciding against playing James Bond in the movie GoldenEye, which was released in 1995.

Neeson, 70, clarified that he “was not offered James Bond” while speaking about his new movie Marlowe in an interview that was published on Monday. However, he had considered the possibility of taking on the iconic spy role until Richardson, whom he married in 1994, stepped in.

“They considered a number of different actors. After the release of Schindler’s List, Barbara Broccoli phoned me a few times and asked whether I would be interested in appearing in the sequel. My response was always the same: “Sure, I would be delighted.”

“Neeson said to the publication. “And then my lovely wife [Natasha Richardson], god rest her soul, said to me while we were shooting Nell down in the Carolinas, ‘Liam, I want to tell you something: If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.’ ”

“Therefore,” he said, “I would make fun of her by walking behind her back, making my fingers seem as if I’m carrying a weapon, and then [hums the James Bond theme].” “I had so much fun with that s—-!”

The actor from Taken went on to explain that Richardson, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 45 from blunt force trauma after falling while skiing at Mount Tremblant in Quebec, gave him “a James Bond ultimatum” about the job.

In the past, Liam Neeson has made reference to the so-called “James Bond ultimatum.” Most notably, he did so in an interview in 2014, in which he said that he “had to take [Richardson’s ultimatum] on board because I did want to marry her.”

In discussing the passing of his late wife, Richardson, in another part of the interview, Liam Neeson said that he did not “know how to answer” a question about how he managed to go on with his life in the wake of Richardson’s passing.

“Life goes on. I had a beautiful helper named Joanna, and Natasha’s mother, Vanessa [Redgrave], and her sister, Joely [Richardson], sort of moved in “he said to the media source. “You are probably aware that others came to aid, in a huge manner, and I’ll never, ever forget it.”