The 32-Year Age Gap: Inside Olivia Wilde And Liam Neeson's 'Tempestuous Affair' That Shocked Hollywood

For fans of both Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson and Golden Globe-nominated director/actress Olivia Wilde, the enduring fascination with their single, intense collaboration remains a powerful talking point. As of December 2025, with both stars navigating highly anticipated, separate projects—Neeson in a new wave of action thrillers and Wilde directing a major comedy—it’s worth looking back at the 2014 ensemble drama, Third Person, where their on-screen relationship ignited a significant, though often forgotten, controversy.

The film, directed by Paul Haggis, cast the two as lovers, a pairing that raised eyebrows due to a substantial age difference, which was explicitly written into the narrative. This dynamic created a 'tempestuous affair' that was central to the movie's plot, sparking industry discourse about Hollywood's persistent habit of pairing much older male leads with significantly younger female co-stars. The sheer contrast between their respective career trajectories in 2025 and the roles they played a decade ago highlights the enduring nature of their unique on-screen chemistry.

The Complete Biography and Current Status: Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson in 2025

To fully appreciate the context of their on-screen pairing, a look at the biographical profiles of these two powerhouse actors is essential, contrasting the veteran status of Neeson with the director/actress hybrid career of Wilde.

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Olivia Wilde (Olivia Jane Cockburn)

• Born: March 10, 1984 (New York City, New York, U.S.)
• Age in 2025: 41
• Primary Roles: Actress, Director, Producer, Screenwriter.
• Breakthrough Role: Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in the TV series House (2007–2012).
• Directorial Debut: Booksmart (2019), followed by Don't Worry Darling (2022).
• Current/Upcoming 2025 Projects: Directing the upcoming comedy film The Invite, and an acting role in the film Behemoth! alongside Pedro Pascal.

Liam Neeson (William John Neeson) OBE

• Born: June 7, 1952 (Ballymena, Northern Ireland)
• Age in 2025: 73
• Primary Roles: Actor.
• Breakthrough Roles: Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List (1993) and the star of the Taken franchise (2008–2014).
• Accolades: Nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Golden Globe Awards.
• Current/Upcoming 2025 Projects: Starring in the action sequel Ice Road: Vengeance, the anticipated comedy reboot The Naked Gun, and the action film The Last Mission.

The Intricate Plot of 'Third Person': Where Fact and Fiction Blurred

The core of the Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson narrative lies in the 2014 film Third Person, an ensemble drama penned and directed by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis. The movie interweaves three seemingly separate love stories taking place in Rome, Paris, and New York City, all centered around themes of love, trust, and betrayal.

Neeson plays Michael, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who has retreated to a luxurious hotel suite in Paris to complete his latest book, while simultaneously wrestling with the fallout of a personal tragedy. Wilde plays Anna, a young, ambitious journalist who travels to Paris to interview Michael. Their relationship quickly escalates into a complex, passionate, and tempestuous affair.

The dynamic between Michael and Anna is one of intellectual sparring and intense physical attraction, with Anna being described in early reports as a "gossip columnist" and Michael as her "boyfriend" in a separate plot thread. This confusion and the interlocking nature of the storylines—which also feature Mila Kunis and James Franco, as well as Russell Crowe in a related film, The Next Three Days—is what gives the movie its title and its narrative complexity. The on-screen chemistry between Neeson and Wilde was frequently highlighted by critics as one of the film's most compelling, albeit unsettling, elements.

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The Shocking 32-Year Age Gap Controversy

The most enduring aspect of the Neeson-Wilde pairing in *Third Person* is the significant age difference between the actors, which became a focal point of discussion about Hollywood's casting norms. At the time of filming, Liam Neeson was 61, and Olivia Wilde was 29, representing a 32-year age gap between the on-screen lovers.

This casting choice was not accidental; it was integral to the story's themes of power dynamics, mentorship, and the complexities of an older man's relationship with a younger woman. Michael (Neeson) is an established, celebrated author, while Anna (Wilde) is a young writer looking to make her mark. The age difference visually reinforced the power imbalance and the "May-December romance" trope, which critics noted was a recurring, problematic trend in Hollywood cinema.

While the film itself received mixed reviews, the casting of Neeson and Wilde as a passionate couple brought the issue of the 'creepy age gap' in movie relationships back into the public eye. The fact that their characters' affair was set against the backdrop of Europe—with scenes shot on the streets of Rome and in a Paris hotel suite—only heightened the dramatic, almost scandalous, feel of their story arc.

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From On-Screen Lovers to 2025 Power Players: Their Separate Trajectories

Despite the intense, one-time collaboration, both Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson have since moved in distinct, high-profile directions, making their 2014 pairing a fascinating historical footnote.

Liam Neeson's Action Renaissance

Neeson, now in his 70s, has fully embraced his status as a late-career action star, a path cemented by the massive success of the Taken franchise. His 2025 slate is packed with high-octane projects, including the sequel Ice Road: Vengeance and the highly anticipated reboot of the classic comedy The Naked Gun. This transition from serious drama like Schindler's List to reliable action hero has made him one of the most bankable stars in the industry, consistently delivering on the promise of a thrilling cinematic experience.

Olivia Wilde's Director Focus

Olivia Wilde, meanwhile, has significantly shifted her career from acting to directing. Her critical success with Booksmart and the massive media attention surrounding Don't Worry Darling have established her as a major directorial force. Her 2025 focus is on her new project, the comedy film The Invite, which she is directing and also starring in alongside Seth Rogen and Penélope Cruz. This move solidifies her role as a modern-day renaissance woman in Hollywood, balancing her work in front of and behind the camera.

The 2014 film Third Person remains a powerful, if controversial, entry on both of their filmographies. It serves as a reminder of the complex, often challenging, roles that actors take on, and the enduring intrigue of a dramatic on-screen pairing that transcended a significant age difference. As both stars continue to dominate their respective fields in 2025, the 'tempestuous affair' of Michael and Anna is a compelling piece of cinematic history that continues to draw interest from fans and critics alike.