2008 was a monumental year. No, not because England were absent from the Euros, but because this was when Taken first saw the light of day, introducing us to the character of Bryan Mills and in turn taking Liam Neeson‘s career into a new dimension. Now however, the Irish actor has decided to turn his back on making action movies, citing his age and a desire to take on serious roles as the key reasons.
Despite this, Neeson claimed at the recent Toronto International Film Festival: “They’re still throwing serious money at me to do this stuff”, adding “I’m like: ‘Guys I’m sixty-f******-five.’ Audiences are eventually going to go: ‘Come on.”
Who knew nine years ago that the Ulsterman would become synonymous with the genre, almost a byword for ‘action’ itself? Well, as he has deemed it “all a pure accident”, certainly not the man himself. Heck, some of us were just getting to know him as Aslan.
But fear not, he still has a couple of missions to accomplish. Two heart-pumping thrillers are to be released before the year’s out, including the already filmed Hard Powder, where he plays a snowplough driver who finds himself pitted against a bunch of drug dealers (now if that doesn’t scream action, I don’t know what does). Also in the pipeline is The Commuter. For those who prefer the more serious stuff (and there are still plenty of us out there), there’s the upcoming Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. Let’s hope it’s a little better than Silence, though.
Are you sad to learn that Liam Neeson’s days as an action man are numbered, or will you be glad to see the back of them? Were you a big fan of the Taken franchise, or did you prefer other flicks like The Grey? Let us know below.
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