Neeson noted with some encouragement that he felt “old and incredibly lucky.” He never loses sight of the fact that much of his success is luck. But the fact that she accompanied him, the actor contributed.
He did not seriously consider a career as a film actor in his youth. His ambition, if he had any at the time, was to join the company of the National Theater in London. The turning point was the participation in the filming of John Boorman’s “Excalibur”, released on the screens in 1981, it was there that “movie magic” opened before him in all its splendor. Shiny armor, horses, sword fights – this was the last dream. And he completely captured it.
“Marlow”, in which Neeson plays the iconic detective Philip Marlowe, who came from the pen of American writer Raymond Chandler, was the fourth film directed by Neil Jordan with the participation of Neeson and, as it turned out, the acting work, The latter is most proud of was another of these four films – a 1996 “Michael Collins” biopic – about the Irish political and military leader, the revolutionary Michael Collins (1890-1922), who was a victim during the confrontation between nationalist forces, shortly after Ireland gained independence from Great Britain.
For Neeson, this was an opportunity to feel Irish history and show everyone that it’s also his own story, that he has Irish roots. In addition, this period was not very fond of remembering, it is imprinted in the collective memory as something very gloomy and depressing. And Michael Collins was and remains a controversial personality, however, be that as it may, he is rightfully one of the founding fathers of the modern Irish state.
The turning point in the cinematographic fate of the already mature Liam Neeson was the role in “Taken” (Taken) by Pierre Morel, released on the screens in 2008. Thanks to her, the 56-year-old actor and everyone around him became They found that he was very convincing as the hero of action movies. Neeson himself on the set understood that the film was not intended for anything in particular, such a film is seen more often at home than in theaters. The scene with the phone call, which became a textbook, he saw in a completely different light. “This is generally a rather banal story. My voice certainly sounded threatening, but I thought it was banal, just vulgar. Sometimes it’s nice when it turns out you’re wrong,” he adds with a smile.
Despite the extremely diverse and rich experience, there is still one aspect of the profession that makes you uncomfortable. These are intimate scenes. Neeson admits that he just can’t look at them, embarrassment getting the better of him. Of course, he knows that this is a staged performance, but this is… superfluous. He is very sympathetic to the beliefs of his American colleague Penn Badgley, who asked the creators of the television series “You” to reduce the number of sex scenes in the fourth season out of respect for his privacy, and admitted that he would be pleased. to completely avoid participation in them. Neeson noted that he fully shares this point of view. He doesn’t like them either. On his account, many episodes of films with such content. “You know, I would prefer that in such cases there was room for the imagination. Especially when we’re talking about ladies,” he commented politely.
