Liam Neeson has insisted he is "not a racist".
Liam Neeson
The 66-year-old actor has come under fire after he controversially and candidly confessed to trying to provoke a fight with a black person after a female friend was raped and he's now clarified his comments, explaining he was expressing the unexpected "primal urge" to lash out that he felt after his pal's attack.
Speaking on 'Good Morning America', he said: "We were doing a press junket and the topic of our film ['Cold Pursuit'] is revenge.
"It's a dark comedy, but its basis is revenge. The lady journalist asked me how I tapped into that.
"I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago where a dear friend of mine was brutally raped. I was out of the country. When she came back she told me about this and she handled the situation herself with incredible bravery, I have to say that.
"I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out.
"She said he was a black man. After that, there were some nights I went out deliberately into black areas in the city looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence, and I did it for four or five times until I caught myself on.
"It shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me. It hurt me."
Liam admitted he sought help for his violent feelings.
He added: "I did seek help. I went to a priest, [he] heard my confession and I was a Catholic. I am not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago."
The veteran actor admitted he'd have reacted in the same way if his friend's rapist had been white.
Asked by host Robin Roberts if he'd have done the same towards white people, he said: "Oh, definitely. If she'd have said an Irish, or a Scot, or a Brit, or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect. I was trying to show honour, to stand up for my dear friend.
"I'm a fairly intelligent guy and that's why it kind of shocked me when I came down to Earth after having these horrible feelings. Luckily no violence occurred ever. Thanks be to God."
Liam made his shocking admission when describing his reaction when the female acquaintance confided in him about being raped.
He previously said: "I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.
"I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some 'black b*****d' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.
"It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, 'Where are you going?' And I would say, 'I'm just going out for a walk.' You know? 'What's wrong?' 'No no, nothing's wrong.' "
The 'Schindler's List' actor has admitted his shocking confession was "horrible" and he eventually learned a lesson from his "awful" attitude.
He said: "It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that. And I've never admitted that, and I'm saying it to a journalist. God forbid. It's awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the f**k are you doing,' you know?"
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