Liam Neeson has spoken about comments he made to The Independent where he said he roamed the streets with a cosh, wanting to kill a “black bastard” after someone close to him was raped.

Today, he spoke to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts in an attempt to explain the comments which were met with international outrage.

Below is a full transcript of that conversation, edited for clarity.

:: Read the original, exclusive interview that started a global conversation

Roberts: First of all Liam, I really appriecate your willingness to have this discussion because when it comes to race, it can be very uncomfortable for people and it just caught people off guard how you responded when you were asked about revenge... and you will explain what you said…

Neeson: We were doing a press junket and the topic of the film is revenge, it's a dark comedy too, but its base is revenge. And the lady journalist was asking me "How do you tap into that?" and I remembered an incident, nearly 40 years ago, where a very dear friend of mine was brutally raped and I was out of the country, and when I came back she told me about this.

She handled the situation incredibly bravely, but I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out.

I asked her "Did you know the person?", it was a man... no. "His race?" She said he was a black man. I thought "Okay..." And after that there were some nights I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence. I did it four, maybe four or five, times until I caught myself and it really shocked me, this primal urge. It shocked me and it hurt me.

I did seek help. I went to a priest who heard my confession - I was raised a catholic. I had two very good friends that I talked to, and believe it or not… power walking. Two hours every day to get rid of this.

I'm not racist, this was nearly 40 years ago. But because I was brought up, maybe I’m rabbiting on Robin so forgive me. I was brought up in the north of Ireland and brought up in the Troubles, the 60s, 70s and early 80s...

Roberts: And can you explain to people what that is?

Neeson: There was a war going on in the north of Ireland and I had acquaintances who were involved in the Troubles, the bigotry… one catholic would be killed, the next day a protestant would be killed. One catholic pub would be bombed, a protestant pub would be bombed. I grew up surrounded by that, but I was never part of it.

Liam Neeson: ‘I walked the streets with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by a 'black b**tard' so that I could kill him’

Roberts: I appreciate your willingness to discuss and then to put it into context, and I know that you’ve heard the reaction from people. One response is the fact that when asking your friend, and I’m glad that she’s okay.

Neeson: She passed away.

Roberts: Oh I’m sorry for your loss. You asked about colour, you didn’t ask if the person was tall or short, big or small….

Neeson: I did actually. I asked all those questions too. I did, I did. But I did ask about race yeah.

Roberts: Because what we heard and saw it was only asking about colour… Would you have had the same reaction if your friend had said it was a white man? Would you have wanted to go out and kill?

Neeson: Oh definitely. If she had said an Irish or a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect. I was trying to show honour and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion. And I’m a fairly intelligent guy and that’s why it shocked me when I came down to earth after having these horrible feelings. Luckily, no violence occurred ever, thanks be to God.

Roberts: Do you think you actually would have done it? If an innocent black man…

Neeson: Yes.

Roberts: …who had nothing to do with…

Neeson: Yeah I know, that was my feeling. I did want to lash out, yes, because my friend was brutally raped and I thought I was defending her honour, and I admit that. It’s a learning curve…

John Barnes says Liam Neeson 'should be applauded' for revealing he wanted to kill a black man after friend was raped

Roberts: So what is a teachable moment here? Because it doesn’t matter what you say, some people are going to be outraged, others would say "Well at least he’s admitting. He’s being honest that this is a feeling that some people have but never really acknowledge it." But what is the teachable moment here? What are you hoping people will learn from you making these statements?

Neeson: To talk, to open up, to talk about these things. We all pretend we're all politically correct, I mean, in this country, it’s the same in my own, sometimes you scratch the surface and discover this racism and bigotry, and it's there.

I remember when we were shooting Schindler’s List in Poland 25 years ago, 26 years ago almost, and hearing remarks from drivers who were taking us to the set and thinking to myself “am I hearing this right? This guy is making anti-Jewish comments to me who’s playing Oskar Schindler in the back of the car." It happened several times. Sometimes, driving to the set, we would see swastika signs painted on walls, knowing we were being driven past this area to go to set.

Roberts: What do we do? How do we have…

Neeson: You tell me, you tell me what the teachable moment is, please. I’m going to throw it back at you.

Roberts: I think the teachable moment is we have to own up to what we… the one point I want to make out is that this wasn't discovered by somebody, you admitted this, it isn't a 'gotcha', so I give you credit there, but also having to acknowledge the hurt, even though it happened decades ago, the hurt of an innocent black man knowing that he could have been killed for something he did not do because of the colour of his skin.

Neeson: Or they could have killed me too, at the time.

Roberts: But to get beyond it being a difficult conversation and understanding that we do need to get to the root of it, to stop just taking about it… I know that you’re getting crucified in many ways for saying what you did…

Neeson: Sure…

Liam Neeson through the years Show all 23 1 /23 Liam Neeson through the years Liam Neeson through the years March 1995 Liam Neeson stars In the movie ‘Rob Roy’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years October 1996 Neeson poses with co-star Aidan Quinn (right) and director Neil Jordan (left) at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie ‘Michael Collins’ AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years March 2001 Neeson poses with the lightsaber he used in ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ at the ‘Movie Action for Children’ auction AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2002 Liam Neeson attends the Tony Award nominees brunch Getty Liam Neeson through the years July 2002 Neeson attends the world premiere of ‘K-19: The Widowmaker’ in Westwood, California Getty Liam Neeson through the years August 2003 Neeson films scenes from ‘Kinsey’ at Grand Central Station, New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2004 Neeson after a press conference for the movie ‘Kinsey’ during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2005 Samuel L Jackson (left) and Neeson (right) pose with Chewbacca at the premiere of ‘Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2005 Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Neeson arrive at the premiere of ‘Batman Begins’ at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2006 Pierce Brosnan (left) and Neeson attend the ‘Seraphim Falls’ press conference during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2008 Neeson poses by the river Thames before a screening of the action movie ‘Taken’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2010 Neeson, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, director Joe Carnahan, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper arrive at the premiere of their movie ‘The A-Team’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2011 Neeson at the premiere of ‘The Grey’ in Los Angeles Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2012 Neeson poses next to the beach closet dedicated to him on the Promenade des Planches for the movie ‘Taken 2’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2013 Neeson presents an award at the Oscars Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Neeson holds his character from ‘The Lego Movie’ as he attends the premiere in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Actors Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyong’o, Neeson and Julianne Moore attend the premiere of their movie ‘Non-Stop’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years November 2014 Maureen O’Hara accepts an Honorary Oscar from Clint Eastwood and Neeson Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2015 Neeson signs posters as he attends a ‘Taken 3’ fan screening Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2017 Neeson reprises his role from ‘Love Actually’ alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster for Comic Relief’s ‘Red Nose Day Actually’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2017 Neeson appears on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2018 Neeson attends the premiere of ‘The Commuter’ in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2018 Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony in Hamburg AFP/Getty

Roberts: And you’re not shying away, you’re admitting that it’s wrong, you’ve learned from that. But you have to also understand the pain of a black person hearing what you said.

Neeson: Absolutely, you're absolutely right. And at the time, even though this was nearly 40 years ago, I didn't think about that. All those things surprised me, but it was this primal hatred, I guess, that really really shocked me, when I eventually came down to earth and saw what I was doing, going out looking for a fight.

Roberts: It’s not the way… and that’s what the basis of your movie is too, it just goes on and on.

Neeson: Violence breeds violence, bigotry breeds bigotry.

Roberts: There’s no end when you do it like that. Liam Neeson, thank you. I know it’s not easy, I know, and I wish we could settle it all.

Neeson: See the movie, it’s a good movie by the way! Having said all that.