Liam Neeson: Hollywood heavyweight on his new role and that career-changing, iconic line in Taken

Liam Neeson’s career has spanned 47 years, over 100 films- and too many iconic roles to count. From Oskar Schidler, to Qui-Gon Jinn, to Ra’s al Ghul, to everyone’s favourite retired CIA operative Bryan Mills to brooding private detective Philip Marlowe in the 2022 release Marlowe.

Liam Neeson theorised with ZB’s Jack Tame that a character like Philip Marlowe has managed to keep readers and viewers intrigued over a century after his creation because people are drawn to noble protagonists who care about seeking justice.

“Here’s this guy, kind of down on his luck I suppose, carving out a not very lucrative career and seeking some kind of justice for a murder or some crime that’s been committed and doing it in his own way. Sometimes he works for the bad guys, sometimes with the good guys. Something about that, there’s a rebel in there and there’s also an Arthurian knight of the Round Table in there.”

Marlowe holds the unique distinction of being Liam Neeson’s 100th film, but he remains modest about his accomplishments on stage or the screen. Even when Jack pressed further, Neeson still wouldn’t name any personal highlights.

“Seriously, I can’t. A lot of that is just luck, Lady Luck.”

The theme of seeking justice and avenging crimes is clearly timeless, as it’s a driving force behind another iconic role filled by Neeson- retired CIA operative turned father figure Bryan Mills from the 2008 hit Taken.

Surprisingly enough, Liam Neeson never actually imagined Taken being a hit- or eventually a meme. As he explained to Jack Tame, he assumed this was going to be dismissed as direct to video-grade cheesiness.

“It’s funny, when I first read that script (Taken) I thought- this is so corny. I heard this or feel like I’ve seen this in so many movies.”

“I thought it would be straight to video. Like straight to video. But I wanted to do it because of all the fighting and I loved being with the stunt guys, doing all that stuff. And it was three months in Paris, how bad could it be?”

Liam Neeson explained to Jack Tame that Taken was the start of the point in his career where he became an action star, as he later featured in The A-Team, The Grey, Wrath of the Titans and all the Taken sequels.

“If I had five cents for every time I said, you know, I have a particular set of skills, I will find you… I’d be a very rich man. Because my kids would always say- Dad, would you leave a message for my friend?”

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