Liam Neeson has blasted Disney’s “Star Wars” spin-offs for robbing the film franchise of its “magic” and “mystery”.
The 70-year-old “Schindler’s List” actor played Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn in 1999’s “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”, and despite having roles in other projects linked to the series including TV shows “The Clone Wars” and “The Rise of Skywalker”, he said he would not be returning to any more.
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He said when he joined “Ant-Man” actor Paul Rudd, 53, during an episode of “Watch What Happens Live” with host Andy Cohen on Thursday: “There’s so many spinoffs of ‘Star Wars’. It’s diluting it to me, and it’s taken away the mystery and the magic in a weird way.”
Neeson’s voice was used in “The Clone Wars”, which ran from 2011 until 2014, and in 2019’s “The Rise Of Skywalker” and had two lines in one of the most recent Disney “Star Wars” spinoffs, “Obi-Wan Kenobi”, in which his “Phantom Menace” co-star Ewan McGregor, 51, also returned, playing the title role.
When asked if he would want to act in another “Star Wars” project, Neeson bluntly replied: “No, I’m not.”
Neeson, also famed for his “Taken” series, last year told ComicBook.com he would only think about returning to the “Star Wars” universe if it was for a film and not TV role.
He added: “Yeah, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to TV, I must admit.
“I just like the big screen, you know? Qui-Gon – I can’t believe it’s 24 years since we made ‘The Phantom Menace’, I just cannot believe where the time has gone.
“It was a terrific experience, shooting that film in London.”
“Star Wars” TV spinoffs include “The Mandalorian”, “The Book of Boba Fett”, “Andor” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi”, with “Ashoka” and “The Acolyte” on the way.