Liam Neeson has sparked outrage after admitting he went hunting for a “black b******d” to kill after finding out a family member had been raped.

The Taken and Love Actually star, 66, made the shocking admission to the UK’s Independent during a press junket for his new film Cold Pursuit.

“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” Neeson said. “But my immediate reaction was I asked, did she know who it was? No.

“What colour were they? She said it was a black person.

“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 [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black b******’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”

A cosh is a thick, heavy stick or bar used as a weapon.

While admitting his reaction was “awful”, Neeson revealed that it took him more than a week to calm down.

“It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that,” he said. “And I’ve never admitted that, and I’m saying it to a journalist. God forbid.

“It’s awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, ‘What the f*** are you doing’, you know?”

The article has sparked a fierce backlash online, with Neeson slammed as a “racist”, while the journalist behind it has been criticised for providing psychological context to the actor’s reaction.

Liam Neeson's Publicist: you ready?



Liam Neeson: yep, hi guys i'm liam neeson and i wanted to kill a black guy, not even the perpetrator of the crime, just any black guy



Liam Neeson's Publicist: pic.twitter.com/vLFoACGNKh — chev 💞 (@buttmerogers) February 4, 2019

Liam Neeson tells the world he wanted to lynch a stranger and people are arguing over whether or not he should be forgiven. I..whew. NOPE. — ❄Mikki Kendall❄ (@Karnythia) February 5, 2019

So wait, y'all are saying b/c Liam Neeson "came to his senses" after a week & realized killing an innocent black man for the alleged sins of another probably wasn't a great idea, we should all hold hands round the camp fire & sing kumbaya w/ him? The bar is really THAT low? pic.twitter.com/ImcoT875f3 — Moon Dragon 🌘✨ (@TiangPaul) February 4, 2019

Shame on you Liam Neeson. — Samantha Mumba (@samanthamumba1) February 4, 2019

Liam Neeson is racist oh ok — Pepperoni Pizza ☃️❄ (@SmallWhiteKid) February 4, 2019

Liam Neeson’s comments displays that common racist undertone of Privilege. And how Cheap a Black life is to racists. — @TommyShuta (@TommyShuta) February 4, 2019

I'm a fan of Liam Neeson but the way the white institution self preserves and has different rules for itself is astounding. The fact that the journalist got psychological context for his racist reaction blows my mind. — ƒz. (@skyr1ft) February 4, 2019

So now we’ve got to cancel Liam Neeson too? pic.twitter.com/1ExauVZ3kg — Afua Adom (@afuathescot) February 4, 2019

LIAM NEESON WTF — lyanne (@vmacity) February 4, 2019

That Liam Neeson story is actually insane — Billy Pilgrim (@nicstaley) February 4, 2019

So Liam Neeson is so much more awful than I'd ever thought. — Alice, definitely not a Werewolf (@Ally_Nuttall) February 4, 2019

During the interview, Neeson added that he now understood the dangers of seeking revenge.

“I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing.”

The actor’s story about revenge was raised amid conversations about his Cold Pursuit character, Nels Coxman, who goes on a journey to kill the drug dealers he believes murdered his son.

Weighing in on the issues surrounding on-screen violence, Neeson denied that it inspires people to mimic bad behaviour.

“I think audience members live to see that (violence),” he said.

“They can kind of live vicariously through it. People say, ‘Yeah but violence in films makes people want to go out and kill people.’ I don’t believe that at all. I think the average moviegoer thinks, ‘Yeah, punch him. Punch him.’ And they get a satisfaction out of seeing somebody else enact it, and they leave the theatre and they feel satiated in some way.”