Liam Neeson has retired from thriller films.
The 65-year-old actor may have impressed with his role in the 2008 hit ‘Taken’, in which he played a former government operative trying to reconnect with his daughter, and have a string of successful movies under his belt, but he has decided to step away from playing an action hero – despite bosses approaching him with mega deals.
Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, he said: "The thrillers, that was all a pure accident. They’re still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff. I’m like, ‘Guy’s I’m sixty-f***ing-five.’ Audiences are eventually going to go, ‘Come on.’ "
However, fans shouldn’t be too disappointed as Neeson has two revenge thrillers ‘Hard Powder’ and ‘The Commuter’ coming up that he’s already shot.
He said: "I’ve shot one that’s going to come out in January sometime. There might be another. That’s it. But not ‘Taken,’ none of that franchise stuff."
And it’s not just Neeson who has been thinking longer and harder about what films he takes on as Colin Firth is adamant he’d never transition into action movies because he doesn’t think he’d make a "believable" hero.
He said: "After the first [‘Kingsman’], there were some offers like that. But I realised very quickly you’ve got to get the context right – with someone like me, anyway.
"I’m not just a guy who’s believable if I showed up in just any action context and started doing roundhouse kicks. It worked because it was implausible, and the humour was pitched right.
"There’s just enough of a send-up for people to be able to accept it. If I tried to go in as a badass on an earnest basis, I’m not going to get away with it."
Liam Neeson retires from action films
