Neeson confessed to carrying a weapon for days after he heard a friend of his was raped

Liam Neeson was discussing his new movie at the time (Image: Getty)

Hollywood actor Liam Neeson has expressed regret about once walking the streets hoping to kill a black person in a revenge attack.

Neeson confessed to carrying a weapon for days after he heard a friend of his was raped but didn’t know who had done it – just their skin colour.

The action star was talking about his new film Cold Pursuit with the Independent and the primal rage that violence against a loved one can cause.

He said: “It’s awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, ‘What the f*** are you doing,’ you know?

“All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”

Liam Neeson (Image: Getty images)
The 66-year-old Northern Irishman said the rape happened many years ago and he only found out about it after returning from a trip overseas.

Though his friend handled the situation in the most “extraordinary way”, Neeson admits he did not.

After hearing the news, he told the Independent: “My immediate reaction was… I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.

“I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some b**** b****** would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.

“It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, ‘where are you going?’ and I would say, ‘I’m just going out for a walk’. You know? ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘No no, nothing’s wrong.’

Representatives for Neeson and film studio Lionsgate have been contacted for comment.