Pamela Anderson hails Liam Neeson for putting her at ease during The Naked Gun shoot
The former Baywatch actress, 58, has been widely reported to be in a relationship with Schindler's List star Liam, 73, and she has now spoken to the New York Times to praise her co-star him for helping ease her nerves as they shot the cop comedy reboot.
She said: 'He has so much charm and so much charisma that you kind of just fall into it.
'I can't explain it because I've never experienced it before.'
The new Naked Gun film marks a reboot of the classic American crime spoof franchise originally made famous by Leslie Nielsen.
Liam takes on the lead role as detective Frank Drebin Jr., while Pamela plays his love interest, Beth — a woman convinced her brother has been murdered, launching the pair on an absurd adventure across Los Angeles.
Pamela added she 'still felt unsure of herself at times during filming', but said Liam's calm presence on set kept her grounded.
She said he told her 'You're doing great" during shooting.
Pamela added: 'To do comedy, it gives you a lot of energy when you're in something so joyful and silly. 'Liam has done over 100 movies, and I hope he's inspired to do even more (comedies.)'
Liam, known for dramatic and action-heavy roles in the likes of Taken and Batman Begins, also admitted to having doubts about leading a comedy.
He told the New York Times: 'I don't think of myself as funny-funny, but I love laughing and gagging about.'
Reflecting on his performance, he added: 'I thought I was OK, seriously. I thought I was OK.'
The Naked Gun franchise began in 1982 with the TV series Police Squad! and expanded into three successful films.
A source close to the production has told People Pamela and Liam are 'in the early stages' of a relationship, calling it 'a budding romance'.
The insider added: 'It's sincere, and it's clear they're smitten with each other.'
Pamela and Liam pair are currently promoting the film and, according to the source, are 'enjoying each other's company' off-screen during the promotional tour.
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Perth Now
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Liam Neeson feels that he is too old for action movies
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Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
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an hour ago
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And according to he now has about 20 projects – including a sequel to the 2015 Melissa McCarthy movie Spy – in various stages of development. At 62, the perennially dapper writer-director-producer has no intention of slowing down. 'I'm all about speed,' he says. 'My whole thing is I'm looking for runaway freight trains, because the things you develop for years are just caught in the muck and the mire, people overthink, it starts to sag, and people get tired of the stuff that was good, you know.' Getting a project up and running quickly is vital to maintain the momentum, especially in comedy. 'I think energy is the biggest thing that makes a movie or a project great,' he says. 'Everybody goes into it with a head of steam. I'm not saying good things don't come out of being cautious and taking time. It's just for me, that's not a pace I like. I like, 'blam, here it is'.' For the most part, that approach has served Feig well. Having started his career as a performer, he switched to the other side of the camera after his breakthrough role in Sabrina the Teenage Witch was cut after one season because, he was told, they didn't really know how to write for his character. 'It was this thing of, 'Wow, if you're an actor in this business, you're completely out of control'. They can fire you at any time. You are stuck in a contract for seven years unless they let you out of it. So it just cemented in my head that I want to do this.' His first attempt, a self-funded feature he wrote, directed and starred in (alongside illusionist Penn Jillette, of Penn and Teller fame), wiped out his and his wife Lauren's savings and was never picked up for distribution. 'I was like, 'it could potentially be over right now',' he says of the film, Life Sold Separately, which has not been released to this day. But rather than give up, he took inspiration from his friend Matt Reeves, who had just co-created the college drama Felicity with J.J. Abrams (Lost). 'I decided to write a pilot based on my high school.' The show was Freaks and Geeks, and after Judd Apatow, a friend from stand-up days, agreed to come on board as producer, he was off at the races. 'Suddenly we got sold to NBC, we're making a pilot, we got picked up. It was just redemption at the highest possible level.' The show only lasted a single season – and NBC initially screened only 12 of its 18 episodes before dumping the final six one Saturday night a year later – but it launched the careers of actors Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel. And, obviously, of one Paul Feig. Those 18 episodes will screen at SXSW in October in a marathon 14-hour session. 'Sadly, I'm not going to be there when they're doing it, that would have been kind of fun,' he says. 'But I don't know if I could even survive that. I can't sit that long.' Also screening are Bridesmaids and The Heat. The first time I chatted with Feig was in 2011, when I met him, Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne on a Melbourne rooftop to talk about Bridesmaids. At the time, the film was at the centre of a debate after some old hands (comedian Jerry Lewis, and journalist Christopher Hitchens among them) insisted women weren't funny. Looking back, can you even believe that was a thing? Loading 'Well, I'd like to say we've moved on, but our current political situation here [in the US] is just such a disaster. Always when things feel like they're accelerating forward, there's some nefarious force to put the brakes on and pull it back. 'I always thought the conversation about 'are women funny?' to be ridiculous,' he adds, 'because all I do is work with funny and talented women. The evidence doesn't bear out any of that, so it all just feels like misogyny to me when people say it.' Feig also found himself in the sights when his remake of Ghostbusters (2016), featuring an all-female team, was review-bombed on Rotten Tomatoes before anyone had even seen it. The attacks on African-American comedian Leslie Jones were especially vile. 'If you look at the timing, it was right during the rise of Trump,' he says. 'The manosphere, which I didn't realise existed, had an axe to grind, and we were the perfect moment for them.' His response, he admits, was one of shock. 'I was such a novice to criticism on the internet at that point because, from Freaks and Geeks to Bridesmaids, The Office [he directed 15 episodes of the US version], all these things I'd been involved with were really popular, it was just nothing but goodwill out there for what I was doing. And so, when suddenly it turns, you're like, 'Wait, who are these evil-feeling forces that are coming at me with such anger and venom?' It kind of knocks you sideways. 'Now I'm immune to it,' he adds. 'But at the time, it brings up all the old bullying and things you went through as a kid. And you just realise, 'OK, I can be in my 50s and still be completely pulled back into the schoolyard'.' Thankfully, that's all a long way behind him now. A lifetime, you might say. Feig admits he is looking forward to receiving the award in person and to visiting a country that has always embraced his work again. 'I think Australians have a great sense of humour, and they kind of get what I go for,' he says. 'All my movies are comedies, even when they're thrillers or whatever. I mean, some are very hidden dark comedies, but they're still meant to entertain you. 'It's OK to laugh when things get extreme,' he says. 'And I just feel like Aussie audiences have always kind of gotten that.'
