NEED TO KNOW
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Before The Naked Gun costars Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson struck up a romance, the actor told PEOPLE he was done with dating: “I’m past all that,” he said in a 2024 interview
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A source close to the movie says Neeson and Anderson are now “enjoying each other’s company” and what they share is “sincere”
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While on a global press tour for their new comedy, the pair have been playful and flirtatious, even pretending to make out during a Today show appearance
Liam Neeson declared he was done with dating before he struck up a romance with Pamela Anderson.
Last October, nine months before a source confirmed that the costars of The Naked Gun are “in the early stages” of dating, the Oscar-nominated actor got candid about putting the brakes on his love life in a cover story with PEOPLE.
Asked if he dates, Neeson responded, “No, in a word. I’m past all that.” The 73-year-old was married to The Parent Trap actress Natasha Richardson from 1994 until her death at age 45 in 2009. More than a year after Richardson died, Neeson began dating U.K.–based public relations executive Freya St. Johnston. Their relationship lasted two years.
Now, he and Anderson, 58, are “enjoying each other’s company,” according to a source who worked on the movie. “It’s sincere, and it’s clear they’re smitten with each other.”
Frank Masi/Paramount Pictures
Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson in ‘The Naked Gun.’
That much is clear from the global press tour. While appearing on the Today show on Tuesday, July 29, Neeson and Anderson pretended to get caught making out when the camera panned to them. A week earlier, she kissed him on the cheek during the movie’s London premiere.
Neeson, who dated Barbra Streisand, Brooke Shields and Helen Mirren before marrying Richardson, gushed about Anderson in his 2024 PEOPLE cover story. “With Pamela, first off, I’m madly in love with her. She’s just terrific to work with,” he said.
“I can’t compliment her enough, I’ll be honest with you. No huge ego. She just comes in to do the work. She’s funny and so easy to work with. She’s going to be terrific in the film,” he continued.
Anderson returned the compliments, calling Neeson “the perfect gentleman.” She continued, “He brings out the best in you… with respect, kindness and depth of experience. It was an absolute honor to work with him.”
While it’s unclear when exactly Anderson and Neeson first became romantically involved, the former Baywatch star — who earned rave reviews for her performance in The Last Showgirl earlier this year — suggested to Entertainment Weekly that they were platonic while they made the movie (in theaters Aug. 1).
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty
Dylan Jagger Lee, Brandon Thomas Lee, Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson, Daniel Neeson, and Micheál Neeson on July 28.
“We had many dinners out with the cast. I invited him and his assistant over for romantic dinners with me and my assistant so our relationship stayed ‘professionally romantic’ during filming,” she said.
At the July 28 New York premiere of The Naked Gun, Anderson and Neeson posed together with their children (she has Brandon, 29, and Dylan, 27, with ex-husband Tommy Lee, and Neeson is a dad to Micheál, 30, and Daniel, 28, with Richardson.)
Read the original article on People