Liam Neeson has shared he “thinks about Bruce Willis” every day, following his fellow actor’s retirement from acting after being diagnosed with a disorder that affects the understanding and expression of language.

My heart goes out to him. I think about him every day,” Neeson told The New York Post, adding that the medical condition aphasia is “particularly poignant” for a star like Willis.

“I wish him all the best.”

The Co Antrim actor was speaking ahead of the release of his new movie Memory, which sees his own character – a deadly assassin – try to cope with the onset of Alzheimer’s.

“In doing some research for this, I watched some very traumatic documentaries on the affliction of Alzheimer’s and dementia, and read some books on it of course,” he continued.

“And I have a friend in Ireland, who is older than me, [who] has very definite early stages of dementia, which is traumatic to see … It is a horrible affliction. It really is.

“I know several actors in London … who have lost the ability to learn lines. They just can’t learn the material. And these are actors who have given extraordinary performances on stage and on film and television.”

The Ballymena native also admitted that he would like to reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars saga, but under only one condition – it would have to be for a movie.

Fans have been speculating over whether Neeson would return to his iconic role in Disney+’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, with Ewan McGregor set to star as the lead character, taking up the part more than two decades after he first starred as Obi-Wan in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

However, Neeson told ComicBook.com that he’s “a bit of a snob” when it comes to the silver screen.

When asked if he would like to play Qui-Gon again, he said: “Oh, I think so, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so … if it was a film. Yeah, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to TV, I must admit, I just like the big screen, you know?

“Qui-Gon, I can’t believe it’s 24 years since we made The Phantom Menace, I just cannot believe where the time has gone. It was a terrific experience, shooting that film in London.”

Despite admitting to preferring feature film appearances, the Hollywood veteran did make one exception, when he recently starred as an RUC police inspector in the opening episode of the new series of Derry Girls.

Last June, Neeson said that he hadn’t been approached to appear in the new Disney streaming Kenobi series either, joking that they couldn’t afford him.

“I heard Ewan McGregor was gonna do a series,” the 69-year-old told Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“No, I don’t think so. No, I haven’t been approached. They don’t have enough money.”

Neeson’s latest movie Memory will hit cinemas on April 29, while the Obi-Wan Kenobi series will stream exclusively on the Disney+ app from May 27.