Yesterday, I posted Liam Neeson’s memorable appearance on Sportscenter where he admitted not knowing anything about football, swore, and instantly made the whole show look silly just by being his candid and honest self. Well it turns out, Liam Neeson should be on TV at all times, because after Sportscenter, he did a remote for Dan LeBatard‘s show where he revealed that he used to be a teacher, and told the story of how he once punched out a kid who pulled a knife on him. He probably just pretended that punk kid was a wolf.
(Neeson, asked what his hardest non-acting job was)
“I tried to be a teacher for two years, many years ago. That’s probably the most difficult job I’ve ever tried to master.“I found it impossible to teach 12, 13-year-old boys and girls.
“A kid pulled a knife on me once, during teacher training. He was a big guy too, he was about 15 years of age. So… I had to punch him, you know? And then I was reprimanded for it.
“This particular kid, he didn’t want to settle down, he wanted to disrupt the whole class, you know? So I went over to him and I asked him to leave the classroom, and the next thing, he pulled a knife on me, you know? And my immediate reaction was to punch him. Which I shouldn’t have done, but… I felt threatened, so I punched him.”
I love his action-hero logic. “Dude had a knife, what choice did I have but to punch him in the face?” Gee, I don’t know, there’s always backing down so as not to get stabbed, then saying really mean stuff about the kid after he walks away. That’s probably what I would’ve done. But not Liam Neeson, who’s basically a thoughtful, reflective version of the Notre Dame mascot.
“What I doy hahve is a particular set of skills, skills acquoired durin a loifetoime a dalin wit cheeky little coants. Skills dat make me a noightmare fer wortless fookers like ye. Noy put yer coant dukes up, ya coant!”
(exchange starts at about 1:55. Thanks to Matt M for the tip)