Moving under the radar of the international media, actor Liam Neeson has flown in and out of Toronto to finish production on Atom Egoyan’s erotic thriller Chloe.

The project has been under scrutiny for the past two weeks since Natasha Richardson, Neeson’s wife, suffered a brain injury while skiing in Mt. Tremblant, QC, sparking worldwide headlines. Neeson left the production to be with his spouse, who died two days later.

Speculation in the press included that the film might grind to a halt in the absence of Neeson, who costars with Julianne Moore and Mamma Mia!‘s Amanda Seyfried, and that the Irish-born performer could put his career on hold.

‘There was a panic because nobody knew quite where he would be,’ Egoyan tells Playback Daily. The production, budgeted under $20 million, pushed forward, rearranging its schedule to film scenes not featuring Neeson.

Then, last week, he returned for the final four days of shooting, wrapping on Saturday. In order to shield their grieving star from the paparazzi, the producers flew Neeson to town on a private plane, brought him to set at Toronto’s Filmport, and delivered him back in his hotel room at the end of each day.

‘None of us expected we would be able to pull this off,’ says Egoyan. ‘I’m actually shocked.’

Egoyan previously collaborated with his leading man on the acclaimed remounting of Samuel Beckett’s Eh Joe last summer in New York. Their close relationship played a part in Neeson’s decision to return to set so soon after his wife’s passing. Egoyan says the actor was also very fond of the crew and had ‘a really positive experience’ making the film.

‘He’s a remarkable guy,’ adds the director, who sets out this week on a press junket for his feature Adoration, which opens on both sides of the border on May 8. ‘He’s unbelievably professional about it… and is really committed to the film.’

Neeson stars as a man whose wife, played by Moore, hires an alluring young woman to find out whether he is unfaithful to her. Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Company produces, while The Film Farm’s Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss coproduce. StudioCanal and its subsidiaries are distributing in France, the U.K. and Germany.