Liam Neeson remembers his son Michael visiting The Phantom Menace set: “He waddled over and started hugging R2-D2”

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While we revel in the action, adventure and minutiae of the Star Wars galaxy both in front of and behind the camera, the cast and crew live very real lives while working on the movies. Case in point Liam Neeson, freshly returned to his role of Qui-Gon Jinn in Obi-Wan Kenobi and reminiscing about his time on The Phantom Menace back in 1997 when his then infant son Michael came to set and met a much-loved astromech droid.

“I cannot believe it was 24 years ago that we shot the film in London. My gosh. I remember my son. I’ll tell you a funny story. My son, Michael, was two. His nanny brought him out to visit me on set and it was lunchtime. I held him in my arms and took him around the set and there was R2-D2, just sitting parked. My son looked at this strange piece of metal, in my arms, and just went, ‘[stretches arms out]’ So I had to let him down and he waddled over and started hugging R2-D2.”

Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in '81 and has been a presence online since webpage Fanta War in 1996. He is the EiC and Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, Star Wars – Das Offizielle Magazin, Journal of the Whills and Starburst Magazine, having previously contributed to magazines Star Wars Insider, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, partworks Build Darth Vader, Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Build The Millennium Falcon, and websites Jedi.net, Jedi News, StarWars.com, Lightsabre.co.uk, and Wirezone. He is the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015 (hosting it four times), and is the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
- Advertisement -
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While we revel in the action, adventure and minutiae of the Star Wars galaxy both in front of and behind the camera, the cast and crew live very real lives while working on the movies. Case in point Liam Neeson, freshly returned to his role of Qui-Gon Jinn in Obi-Wan Kenobi and reminiscing about his time on The Phantom Menace back in 1997 when his then infant son Michael came to set and met a much-loved astromech droid.

“I cannot believe it was 24 years ago that we shot the film in London. My gosh. I remember my son. I’ll tell you a funny story. My son, Michael, was two. His nanny brought him out to visit me on set and it was lunchtime. I held him in my arms and took him around the set and there was R2-D2, just sitting parked. My son looked at this strange piece of metal, in my arms, and just went, ‘[stretches arms out]’ So I had to let him down and he waddled over and started hugging R2-D2.”

Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in '81 and has been a presence online since webpage Fanta War in 1996. He is the EiC and Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, Star Wars – Das Offizielle Magazin, Journal of the Whills and Starburst Magazine, having previously contributed to magazines Star Wars Insider, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, partworks Build Darth Vader, Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Build The Millennium Falcon, and websites Jedi.net, Jedi News, StarWars.com, Lightsabre.co.uk, and Wirezone. He is the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015 (hosting it four times), and is the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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