Micheál Neeson says he 'hit rock bottom' after mom Natasha Richardson's death

LONDON, March 17 (UPI) -- Micheál Neeson, the son of late actress Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson, opened up about the "dark" world he immersed himself in after his mother's death in 2009 in his first interview after the fact.

Neeson, 19, told The Sun Daily Times he suffered a "delayed reaction" to Richardson's dying that gave way to him abusing alcohol, drugs and parties.

"In my mind, subconsciously, I either pushed it out or stored it deep inside," he said, adding, "And so, within the next week I was like 'Okay, on with my life.'"

"Last spring, things just started going downhill," he said. "The people I was with, we were partying a lot. It was dark. I hit rock bottom."

Neeson sobered up during a stint in Utah's wilderness where he survived for months on dehydrated food. Nowadays he lives in London and works as a gallery curator.

While he has expressed a "huge interest" in acting, he says his father isn't so keen on the idea.

"My dad says, 'Please, can you just be a farmer or a bartender or something?'" said Neeson, adding that he believes Richardson would approve of his choice.

"She never vocalized it, but I know that my mum liked the idea of me becoming an actor," he asserted. "She would have thought that was cool." Richardson died from an epidural hematoma after a skiing accident in Canada in 2009. She and Liam Neeson are also parents to 18-year-old Daniel Neeson.