Micheál Richardson recently opened up about losing his mother at a very young age. Eleven years after her death, Natasha Richardson’s eldest son, Micheál still hasn’t fully processed her loss.
The Parent Trap Actress tragically died of blunt force trauma in an unfortunate skiing accident back in 2009. She was 45 at the time. Micheál who was just 13 years old himself, was studying at a New England boarding school at the time.
“I think the pain was a little too overwhelming”
In an Interview with Vanity Fair, Micheál confessed he is still coming to terms with the tragic loss of his mother. “I think the pain was a little too overwhelming,” he explained. “I think the mind is very powerful, and subconsciously, or unconsciously, it can protect you. That’s what it did when she passed. I just pushed it aside and didn’t want to deal with it.”
He added, “I don’t, even still, think that I’ve fully comprehended it, and that seems to be a similar journey to a lot of people I’ve spoken to. Fifty-year-olds who lost their parents when they were 12, 13, one day they’re out gardening, and something comes over them and they just break down.”
‘Made In Italy,’ with Liam Neeson
Micheál has honored the actress in many ways, including changing his last name to Richardson back in 2018 and also by following in her acting footsteps. Currently, Micheál stars alongside his father, Liam Neeson, in their upcoming film, Made in Italy. Their latest project is a dramatic comedy about an estranged father-son duo who have to work together to sell their rundown Tuscan villa after the death of their family matriarch.
With the film echoing emotions that both he and his father faced after Natasha’s death, Micheál revealed why he would revisit such real-life pain for a film. “I think as I get older, keeping my mom more in mind and doing things to honor her allows me to remember her. To go through the grief, and properly heal,” he said.
“It felt like my mom, in a spiritual sense, had a hand in it”
The actor also confessed that he felt his mother’s presence during filming the movie. He cited an instance when a butterfly flew between him and his father while they were shooting an emotional scene. “The parallels were so apparent, that it felt like my mom, in a spiritual sense, had a hand in it.”
“She was this sweet, amazing mother figure, my best friend”
Micheál also revealed he is specially thankful that his mother chose acting as a career because it means she’s immortalized forever on film. However, the actor did admit, he hasn’t seen all of his parents films. When asked about his favorite of his mom’s roles, Micheál shared, “Just based off of who she is and how I remember her, it has to be The Parent Trap.” He went on to add, “That’s more or less what she was like. She was this sweet, amazing mother figure, my best friend.”
The original cast of Parent Trap recently gathered for a virtual reunion. The cast fondly remembered Richardson, who played Elizabeth James, the popular designer and mother of twins, Annie and Hallie, played by Lindsay Lohan in a double role.
“The acting profession is about many things, and one of those is rejection”
Moving on to his dad, Micheál revealed his favorite film of Neeson’s is 1993’s Schindler’s List, which earned the actor an Academy Award nomination. Richardson’s loving husband and the father of their children, Liam Neeson also spoke to Vanity Fair. Liam revealed that he is supportive of his son’s desire to pursue a career as an actor, but he initially however had some concerns.
“The acting profession is about many things, and one of those is rejection,” Neeson explained in an email to the publication. “If you get an audition and don’t get a recall and then don’t get the part and subsequently the job, it’s got nothing to do with your upbringing or what schools you attended. You’re rejected because of YOU. How you look, sound, the space you occupy as a human being. That is f****** tough.” He added, “So one has to be sensitive in order to do the ‘work’ and be able to hone that sensitivity. And yet one has to develop a ‘thick skin’ to not let the rejections wear you down. You have to desensitize. It’s crazy.”
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