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Liam Neeson says he once sought revenge for a loved one's rape by looking for a black person to kill

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Liam Neeson is well-known for his vengeful characters in movies like "Taken" and upcoming release "Cold Pursuit," but the actor's most recent account of his own tale of revenge has fans and social media buzzing.

Neeson told The Independent in an interview that when he heard a loved one had been raped, he sought revenge by taking to the streets and looking for a black person to kill.

Really.

"She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” Neeson said in the interview from the British news outlet. “But my immediate reaction was … I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color 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 bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could ... kill him.”

Responses on social media ranged from criticism and praise to jokes.

Neeson continued to say in the interview that though he trolled the streets for a little more than a week seeking revenge, he did come to his senses and realize how awful his behavior was.

"It’s awful,” Neeson said. “But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, ‘What the (expletive) are you doing,’ you know?”

Neeson's latest film, "Cold Pursuit," opens February 8 in theaters nationwide.

You can read the full article and interview here .