Liam Neeson doesn’t love how his ‘Phantom Menace’ character died

Some 26 years ago, Liam Neeson took a lightsaber to the gut — and he still isn’t happy about it.

The actor, who starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, has admitted that he wasn’t impressed with his character’s climactic demise, which occurred during his intense duel with nasty Sith Lord Darth Maul (Ray Park).

“I thought my death was a bit namby-pamby,” the British star recently told GQ while looking back at some of the major roles of his career. “I’m supposed to be a Master Jedi. My character fell for the, ‘Oh, I’m going for your face! No, I’m not, I’m going for your stomach.’ ‘Oh, you got me!'”

Scoffing, Neeson rolled his eyes, “Like, oh, please. Hardly a Master Jedi.”

Despite his disappointment in Qui-Gon’s fate, Neeson said making The Phantom Menace was still a great experience. He especially enjoyed wielding a lightsaber, sound effects and all.

“The first time Ewan McGregor and I had to draw our lightsabers, I remember we both made the sound at the exact same time,” Neeson recalled, mimicking the distinct hum of the kyber-crystal-powered blade. “I remember George [Lucas] said, ‘Boys, you don’t have to do that. We can add that stuff.”

Given his fond memories from the set, Neeson was happy to oblige when the opportunity came around for him to reprise his role for McGregor’s Disney+ spinoff series, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“It was just one little scene,” he recalled. “I kinda liked that. It was just one line. It was nice to recreate that and be with Ewan after 18, 20 years. It was sweet.”

As maverick Jedi Master Qui-Gon, Neeson appeared in only the first of the Star Wars prequels. He served as a wise and gentle mentor for Obi-Wan and planned to take young Anakin (Jake Lloyd) under his wing as well — until Darth Maul and his double lightsaber intervened. In the end, it fell upon his own Padawan to mentor the Force-attuned child, eventually leading to Anakin’s turn to the dark side.

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Even though Qui-Gon didn’t live beyond the film in which he was introduced, Neeson has kept his relationship to the Star Wars universe alive and well, lending his voice out to everything from the second prequel film, Attack of the Clones, to the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He also had a voice cameo in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

So would Neeson ever reprise the role for more than just a few lines? The actor previously stated that he’s open to it, but he shrugged off the idea of leading his own spinoff series.

“There’s so many spinoffs of Star Wars. It’s diluting it to me,” he said during a 2023 visit to Watch What Happens Live. “It’s taken away the mystery and the magic, in a weird way.”

Watch Neeson reflect on Qui-Gon’s death in the video above.