Page last updated at 22:03 GMT, Wednesday, 26 August 2009 23:03 UK

Actor Neeson becomes US citizen

Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson has become a US citizen

Liam Neeson has told an American talk show he has become a US citizen.

The Northern Ireland-born actor said the warmth from well wishers in the US after his wife's death prompted him to seek citizenship.

His wife, actress Natasha Richardson, died in March following a skiing accident in Canada.

Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Mr Neeson said that the US had been "very good" to him but he was still a "proud Irishman".

He told presenter Diane Sawyer the couple's two sons were "doing good" five months on from the tragic accident.

"To be honest, we are taking each day as it comes," he added.

The 57-year-old actor, born in Ballymena, County Antrim, said he was still getting extraordinary letters of condolences from people in America.


"I've been living here for 20 years and America's been very very good to me," he said.

"I'm still a proud Irishman, of course, but I've become an American citizen. I'm very, very proud of that."

Mr Neeson was on the show to promote his new film, Five Minutes of Heaven. During the interview he also paid tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy describing him as a "very special man".

In the film he plays a former member of an outlawed Northern Ireland paramilitary group who is haunted by memories of murder.

The film, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, also stars fellow Northern Ireland actor James Nesbitt.

It was shown on BBC Two in April, and has opened in selected US cinemas.

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