Natasha Richardson's death in 2009 was a huge shock to her fans. The popular actress died after a ski accident in Canada that left her with an epidural hematoma. She was only 45 years old.
Not only was Natasha a beloved actress, but she was also the wife of Liam Neeson and the mom of two — Micheál Richardson and Daniel Neeson.
Natasha's accident was peculiar in a way. She fell at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort in Quebec and actually joked about the incident shortly after. At the time, nobody realized how serious it was.
Micheál Richardson was only 13 at the time of his mom's death. While it's a hard age in general, it's especially tough to lose a parent as a teenager. Now he's opening up about it.
Micheál admitted that it was nothing anyone could prepare for. "It was so sudden," he told Today. "When it’s unexpected and it’s just a complete freak accident, it really sort of messes with your mind, whether you believe in fate or not."
"It can send you for a bit of a head spin, and so you just latch on to the tiny little memories, whether it’s her laugh or her energy in the room or her cooking," he continued. "I do have her films to go back and watch her in, which I'm incredibly grateful for." With movie and television stars, there are always ways to preserve their memory and spirit.
Micheál admits he was a bit of a mama's boy growing up. The oldest of two, born in 1995, said that he shared a special bond with his mom — even referring to her as his best friend. "She was a terrific, terrific mother," he said. "I was a mama’s boy growing up and she was really my best friend. I mean we were all a close family, but Danny was my dad's boy and I was my mom's boy, for sure."
Natasha and Liam originally met on the set of Anna Christie, which filmed back in 1993. They got married just a year later and started a family soon after. To this day, Liam mourns her. In a 2020 interview, he admitted that he often visits her gravesite.
"I speak to her every day at her grave which is about a mile and half down the road," he said to The Jakarta Post. "I go down there quite often, so I do speak to her as if she's here. Not that she answers me. I also speak to a couple of deceased actors that I knew years ago back in Ireland. Is that religious? I don't know. I was brought up Catholic. But I certainly question death and life and is there an afterlife a lot more, not least because I'm now 68 years of age. I'm way past middle age."
Liam and Micheál have bonded a lot since Natasha's untimely death. They actually played father and son in a movie called Made in Italy. "The film is, in some way … I'm not going to say it was cathartic," Liam said. "That's too easy and too hippie a thing to say. It will help to maybe at some stage open a doorway to our conversation about stuff and good relationships."
The movie experience did help Micheál grieve the death. "You know, people lose loved ones," he told Today. "That's a part of life and there were a lot of people involved who had. So there was this really kind of warm, vulnerable energy on set."
"At the times when it had to be emotional, it made it sort of meaningful, in a way, if that makes sense," he continued. "Also I feel it was sort of like a shedding. We shed a layer of loss in a way by creating this." In acting the parts, the two were likely able to open a door to a hard topic that gets easier with discussion and reflection.
Micheál not only starred in this movie to help honor his mom, he also reportedly changed his last name. He was born as Micheál Neeson, according to Vanity Fair, but wanted to use his mom's last name professionally. Once he got the script to Made in Italy, he told the publication that it felt like fate.
"The parallels were so apparent that it felt like my mom, in a spiritual sense, had a hand in it," he said. He also admitted that out of all of his mom's movies, he liked The Parent Trap the best. And that's probably because she mirrored her role in real life.
"That's more or less what she was like," he said. "She was this sweet, amazing mother figure — my best friend. She had these amazing, big welcomes when we'd come home or she would come home. 'Darling!'" he imitated. "I'm so lucky because I have her captured on film."
The young actor admits that he doesn't want people to think that the acting roles he's getting are all because of Liam. Surely, yes — his parents may hold a bit of cred in the industry. But for Made in Italy, he knew he had a strong bond with the character he played. His life experiences are what helped him achieve in the role.
A little-known fact about Natasha Richardson? She was very close to Andy Cohen from Watch What Happens Live. And Andy believes that Natasha would be over the moon that her son has gotten into acting. "She would love that [Richardson] was acting," he told Vanity Fair. "And I think she would be tough on him. She was very, as everyone in the family is, serious about acting. It's something they discuss, and it's a real craft. She wouldn't be one of those moms at the school play who's like, 'Oh, my God, wasn’t he amazing?' I think she would give him notes."
Natasha would be proud of her entire family. She seemed like a warm, genuine soul who put her all into everything she did. Grief doesn't just go away with time — while time helps, it can still creep up on you years later. It's good to know that Micheál found healthy ways to heal. And he's found so many ways to honor his mom.
