Liam Neeson has been praised for returning to the set of Chloe following the death of his wife.

The 57-year-old actor - who was working on the sexual thriller when Natasha Richardson died from a skiing accident in March 2009 - has been described as “heroic” by the film’s director Atom Egoyan completing the project. The movie tells the tale of a wife who tries to make her husband have an affair with a younger woman.

“We tried to protect him. No one knew when exactly he was coming back, but he was nothing less than heroic, especially considering the story,” Atom said. “He wasn’t forced to come back. No one tried to talk to him about what happened. He’s an amazing man.”

Liam has thrown himself into his career since Natasha’s death. As well as playing Zeus in action movie Clash of the Titans, he also stars as Colonel John “Hannibal’ Smith” in The A-Team and is currently shooting drama Unknown White Male alongside Diane Kruger and January Jones.

Chloe opens in limited release this Friday.