WATCH: Liam Neeson shares story about looking for a black person to kill

Transcript for Liam Neeson shares story about looking for a black person to kill

tonight to the controversy involving actor Liam Neeson. The popular actor is under fire tonight for comments he made during an interview. What he said about wanting to kill someone. Here’s ABC’s linsey Davis. Reporter: A brutally honest admission from actor Liam Neeson, in an interview with “The independent,” promoting his latest movie, “Cold pursuit,” where he plays a man seeking revenge. I’m going to kill him. Reporter: He says he understands it, sharing his own real-life reaction to hearing that a woman close to him was raped. I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person. Reporter: The actor says he actually carried a Billy club-like weapon called a cosh. 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 Would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know, so I could kill him. Reporter: Neeson says he now realizes how awful his behavior was. It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that. And I’ve never admitted that. Reporter: An alleged cop Reporter: This happened 40 years ago, but has just been revealed now. And online, this has sparked a bit of a backlash, some calling his comments racist, but Neeson saying he hopes this can be a teachable moment. David? Linsey, thank you. When we come back here, the dramatic day in court.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

source: abcnews.go.com