Michael Richardson says that his father Liam Neeson shied away from grieving after Natasha Richardson’s death.
The 25-year-old actor tragically lost his mother in 2009 after she suffered a brain haemorrhage following a skiing accident. He stars alongside his father in ‘Made in Italy’, which sees a father and son grieving the death of their wife and mother and suggests it can reflect how people try to avoid the mourning process.
Michael told the Irish Daily Mirror newspaper: "I think what’s important about this film is that it acknowledges how easily one can shy away from the grieving process.
"It’s so painful to deal with losing somebody close to you in your life and sometimes the easiest thing to do is shove it under the carpet and not want to talk about it.
"That’s what dad did in real life."
Michael revealed that he is still trying to "figure out" how to grieve his mother’s death.
He explained: "There’s not any one way of grieving and I’m still trying to figure it out myself.
"But if I could pass on a piece of helpful information, I’d say it’s by keeping them in your mind and honouring them in small ways and the little things about them that you can process the grief."
Michael also discussed how he adopted his mother’s surname as a way of helping to grieve her and how he made the choice as he appeared with Liam in ‘Cold Pursuit’.
He said: "I use the Richardson name to honour my mum Natasha and aunt, Miranda. It represents her and my grandfather, Tony, and that’s one of the ways of grieving and I feel closer to my mom and grandfather by giving them that.
"I had discussed it before with my grandmother and aunt and I told my dad when were coming back in the teamster car from filming on set and I said, ‘this is what I want to do’.
"She has a presence in the film industry and I thought this would be a way of keeping her close to me."