Natasha Richardson’s death still not 100% ‘real’ for Liam Neeson

Five years after Natasha Richardson was fatally injured during a ski trip, Liam Neeson admits that the experience of his wife’s death at age 45 “was never real. It still kind of isn’t.”

Talking to Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes,” the 61-year-old actor said, “There’s periods now in our New York residence when I hear the door opening, especially the first couple of years ... any time I hear that door opening, I still think I’m going to hear her.”

He described what happened after her March 2009 fall during a ski lesson north of Montreal, which came almost 15 years into their marriage and left her brain-dead from swelling of the brain.

“She was on life support ... I went in to her and just I told her I loved her, said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this, you’ve banged your head. I don’t know if you can hear me but this is what’s gone down. And we’re bringing you back to New York and your family and friends will come,’ and that’s more or less it.”

Neeson said they’d made a pact that if either of them went into a vegetative state, the other would “pull the plug.” Two days after the fall, the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and Tony Richardson was taken off life support at a New York hospital.

“Donated three of her organs, so she’s keeping three people alive at the moment,” Neeson said. Her heart, her kidneys and her liver. It’s terrific ... and I think she would be very thrilled and pleased by that.”

On a lighter note, the star of the upcoming movie “Non-Stop,” which opens next Friday, joked a bit with Cooper about the slew of action films he’s had in recent years.

“I’m 61 years of age, man, you know?,” he said. “Going around, fighting these guys, yeah, I feel a wee bit embarrassed, you know?”

What can we say, we’re still “Taken” by his performances.

The full interview will air Sunday on CBS.

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