Entertainment / January 15, 2021

Liam Neeson is retiring from making action films

Entertainment / January 15, 2021

Liam Neeson is retiring from making action films

Words: Dylan Murphy

The Northern Irish actor shared the news ahead of his 69th birthday.

Veteran Hollywood actor Liam Neeson has revealed that he plans to stop appearing in actions movies.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the star of Taken said that once he wraps up a final few projects he’ll step away from the genre.

“I’m 68 and a half. 69 this year. There’s a couple more I’m going to do this year – hopefully, COVID allowing us – there’s a couple in the pipeline and, then I think that will probably be it. Well, unless I’m on a Zimmer frame or something.”

The news comes ahead of the release of his next film The Marksman which sees Neeson play an ex-marine living out on a ranch who seeks to protect an 11 year-old from a deadly cartel. Though he’s hanging up his metaphorical gloves soon, he said he still has a massive love for the all-action films.

“I love doing ’em. I love beating up guys half my age.”

He did, however, have a revelation of sorts on the set of Blacklight, a film he’s currently working on, when he accepted that, physically-speaking fight scenes may not be the best idea for a guy his age.

“I’ve just finished one in Australia and I had a fight scene with a kid — lovely, sweet actor called Taylor — and halfway through the fight I looked up, I was breathless and it didn’t cost him a cent, and I said, ‘Taylor, what age are you?’ He said, ’25.'”

“I said, ‘That’s the age of my eldest son!'”

“I said, ‘That’s the age of my eldest son!'”

The Marksman is available from today.

Elsewhere, Brendan Fraser is set to star in Darren Aronofsky’s next film ‘The Whale’.