Liam Neeson's late wife gave him an ultimatum when he was considered for James Bond

Liam Neeson was once upon a time approached about playing James Bond, and while he was never officially offered the coveted and iconic role, he would have had to choose between 007 and Natasha Richardson.

The 69-year-old actor explained what went down during his virtual chat with The Late Late Show with James Corden last night (June 25):

"They approached me. I believe it was—I got a couple of calls from Barbara Broccoli, who is now the main producer of the Bond films. Now, this after I'd done Schindler's List, which was, you know, 26 years ago. But I wasn't offered it. I knew they were looking at various actors, and I apparently was among them.

"However, my dear departed wife did say to me—we were doing a movie together in South Carolina, and she says, 'Darling, if you're offered James Bond and you're gonna play it, you're not gonna marry me.'"

Neeson was nominated for an Oscar under the best actor category for his work in Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg's 1993 historical drama centered Oskar Schindler (Neeson), who worked to protect Jewish people during the Holocaust in Krakow, Poland.

Neeson and Richardson, a Tony-winning actress who was universally known for her role in Lindsay Lohan's The Parent Trap (1998), married in 1994. The movie they did together that he referred to was Nell.

Richardson tragically died in March 2009 from a skiing accident and subsequent epidural hematoma during a family vacation to Quebec. She was just 45 years old. The couple had two sons together, Michael and Daniel.

Pierce Brosnan went on to enjoy a run as James Bond beginning with GoldenEye in 1995.

Neeson headed up the Taken trilogy from 2008-14. Most recently, he stars as Canadian ice road driver Mike suddenly tasked with saving trapped miners in The Ice Road: