If you’re looking for his age slowing him down, he won’t let it. But Liam Neeson has a very particular set of skills, skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him a nightmare for people waiting for him to take less demanding roles. Liam Neeson turns 70 this June and still gets many offers for action movie roles – and he is ready to accept them.
Neeson’s early career is defined by period and historical dramas and fantasies, as well as theater. Over the years, however, his starring roles have put him in more and more action-heavy jobs like 2005’s Batman Begins and, most notably, the Taken films. Since then, similar to Bruce Willis shifting from comedy to action, Neeson became synonymous with intense thrillers. In anticipation of his latest high-stakes film, Blacklight, Neeson is exploring his relationship with action movies at this age and into the future.
When to keep going and when to stop
In a recent interview, Neeson revisited the rise of his career as an action movie icon. “I started being offered all these action scripts,” he noted. “And I’m going, ‘Wow. The lead is 29 years of age.'” In cases such as that, Neeson joked, he crosses out that age and writes in something in the fifties, adding, “I turn 70 this year, so I’m still getting away with it.”
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While he is ready to keep that routine going for now, Neeson does not see the ruse lasting indefinitely. “I think the action movies will draw to a close — they have to,” said Neeson. “Audiences aren’t stupid, you know. They’re gonna go, ‘Oh, f— this guy, Liam Neeson. He’s got to be 71, 72, 73…’ I’ll stop at some stage.”
What is the next action film Liam Neeson is going to dive into?
As far as thrillers go, Neeson shared “there’s a couple in the pipeline,” though adds, “then I think that will probably be it.” He joked that he might continue, but after much longer he might need assistance from medical devices like a walker. It might just be worth it, though, because Neeson himself has admitted, “I like doing it. The scripts are good. I’m kind of like a kid in a candy store.” He also takes heart that he has not heard his sons “laughing when I’ve left the room,” and thinks it’s safe to assume they support what he’s doing.
And what is it that he’s working on lately? Liam Neeson is starring in the upcoming action movie Blacklight, in which he plays an FBI agent who becomes entangled in a bigger government conspiracy. It is slated for release in the U.S. on February 11 and is directed by Mark Williams, whose filmography is populated by thrillers, crime dramas, and science fiction. Until Neeson gets to the next action film on his checklist, he has been promoting this movie as its release approaches.