Neeson rules out Paisley movie

Liam Neeson signed autographs outside the theatre Enlarge Image

Liam Neeson says it is too early to make a movie of the life of Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley.

Although they share the same home town of Ballymena, Neeson says mischievous speculation began after he played Irish republican Michael Collins in 1996.

"The government is still finding its sea legs," he said.

"It will, but as regards telling the tale of the Troubles and the principal characters involved, I think it is still a little early."

He was speaking during a fundraising visit to Belfast's Lyric Theatre, which is closing for a £17m redevelopment.

Liam Neeson cut his teeth as an actor at the Lyric Theatre

Neeson said he owed a great debt to the theatre, where he got his start as an actor in the mid-1970s.

"It was my bread and butter, my spiritual food. To get the chance when everything in Northern Ireland seemed destined for doom and destruction," he said.

"I had this little burning light inside me, that I wanted to be an actor, and the Lyric gave me the chance in the midst of all the carnage, which I have never forgotten and which I appreciate."