Donald Glover Shares How He Convinced Liam Neeson to Appear on Atlanta

It’s no secret that Donald Glover likes to shine a light on Rap music and the structure of American society through this culture, apart from his hit song This Is America. But that’s not the only field that Glover’s passionate about. He’s also the Lando of Star Wars, Troy Barnes of Community, Simba of The Lion King, and Earnest Marks of the 6 Primetime Emmy winner comedy-drama series Atlanta.

There are many unforgettable scenes and guests on Atlanta‘s 41-episode journey. One of them is Hollywood star Liam Neeson, who sparked backlash in a 2019 interview after he said he felt racial vengeance and carried a gun to shoot a Black man. Neeson later apologized for this statement, but this was an opportunity not to be missed for Glover.

Neeson appeared on the show as himself and made a cameo at the Cancel Club, the underground bar where the canceled Hollywood stars hung out, as a reflection of the white actors getting away with it. However, the story of the 70-year-old’s involvement is interesting as the scene. In a new interview with GQ, Glover said he reached out to director Jordan Peele to persuade Neeson, who turned down his offer.

”When I got in touch with him, Liam poured his heart out. He was like, ‘I am embarrassed. I don’t know about this. I’m trying to get away from that.’ And I was like, ‘Man, I’m telling you, this will be funny! And you’ll actually get a lot of cream from it because it’ll show you’re sorry.” So, he asked me to let him think about it. Then he sent me an email saying, ‘I don’t think I can do it and best of luck with ”Atlanta,’ blah-blah-blah.

Liam said (after the incident) he talked to Morgan Freeman, Jordan Peele, and Spike Lee,” So I was like… Jordan Peele! I hit Jordan Peele up, and I was like, ”Look, man, I got this idea. He said that he trusted you. Tell him it’s a good idea!”

Related: Donald Glover Confirms Lando Series Talks Are Still Happening at Lucasfilm

Jordan Peele Talked to Liam Neeson

Glover said Jordan Peele loved the idea and managed to convince Liam Neeson to make a cameo in the third season of Atlanta, but he suspected it was part of a larger prank.

”Jordan thought it was hilarious! So Jordan talked to him. Liam hit me back and said he talked to Jordan and his son and thought it’d actually be a good thing. But what was so funny is, like, I forgot to hit Jordan back. I was so excited about Liam doing it. So Jordan hit a friend of mine, and was like, ‘Am I on a prank show where Donald got me to forgive Liam Neeson? Was this a joke…on me?”

The complete Atlanta series is now streaming on Hulu.