In 2002, Scott Neeson was the President of 20th Century Fox International overseeing films like "Titanic" and "X-Men."
The Scottish-born executive had a
million-dollar salary, a yacht, a Porsche, and lived in Los Angeles' ritzy
Brentwood neighborhood.
But in 2003, everything changed when
Neeson went to visit Cambodia's Steung Meanchey garbage dump and saw children
playing with syringes and broken glass.
"How could anyone survive
here?" Neeson recalls to People magazine. "I couldn't look
away."
During a second trip to Cambodia,
Neeson was trying to help sick children near the dump when he received a call
from an agent whose A-list client was "having a meltdown before boarding
his private jet because it wasn't properly stocked with his favorite
[in-flight entertainment] amenities."
It was a wake up call to Neeson, who
tells People, "The kids I was with were very sick and here's this movie
star yelling. If I needed a sign, that was it."
So Neeson left his high-paying Hollywood job
and started a nonprofit called Cambodian Children's Fund.
"Since 2004, Neeson's charity has
helped house, educate and provide health care for more than 1,450 children in
the country's most desperate slums," according to People.
Now 53-years-old, Neeson has lived in
Cambodia for the past ten years, where he says his one luxury is an espresso
machine.
"I guess I identify with [the
kids] never believing they could do anything with their lives," says
Neeson, who gew up in a working-class household and dropped out of high school
to deliver movie posters to theaters. "They've been through so much, but
they're so hugely energetic and joyful. I've got more love in my life than I
ever thought existed. My fear is what would have happened to me if I was still
living a life all about me."
"I miss a lot of things about
Hollywood," Neeson said, "but I wouldn't change this for the
world."
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