Hollywood

Beaten, not bruised: Liam Neeson

Hindustan Times
October 13, 2012

First Published: 18:01 IST(13/10/2012)
Last Updated: 01:13 IST(14/10/2012)

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Actors Liam Neeson, right, and his wife Natasha Richardson arrive for The Times BFI London Film Festival in London in Oct 17, 2008 file photo. Richardson, 45, died on Wednesday March 18, 2009 in New York after suffering an apparent head injury.

A Jedi master in Star Wars, the evil annihilator Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Returns, to hardcore action flicks such as The A-Team, Taken and now Taken 2 — actor Liam Neeson, 60, says he doesn’t feel that old yet to quit doing physically challenging roles.

“Yeah, I mean

I’ve done a lot of cowboys and armour movies. Star Wars and all that stuff I guess is action. I was 55 when I did Taken. I keep in reasonably good shape, but that was part of it, too. I was 55 and they’re throwing these action scripts at me, which is terrific. I’ll give it two more years before my knees really start giving me trouble," says Neeson, who is currently starring in Taken 2, the sequel to his 2008 hit, Taken. It hits the screens here last Friday.

The film continues the story of retired CIA agent Bryan Millis, essayed by Neeson. While the first film saw the character of Millis save his daughter Kim from Albanian kidnappers, the sequel has him and his wife taken hostage in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Bryan is invited to Istanbul to look after a sheik who is there for a business conference. So, as the film starts, I've kind of just done that job and now I want a little bit of R&R, so I invite my ex-wife and Kim to come over for a few days and see the sights. Then all hell breaks loose,” says Neeson.

As to the elements the sequel has in common with the original movie, the actor says, “It's got a lot of the original elements that audiences liked, and of course some thrills and spills and some really nasty guys that you want to see Bryan not just take on but take out with severe attitude.”