Liam Neeson Says Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Naked Gun’ Reboot Might ‘Finish’ His Career
After being an action star for decades, Liam Neeson revealed that an upcoming “Naked Gun” reboot may threaten his “Taken” persona for good.
“I’ve been approached by Seth McFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the ‘Naked Gun’ films,” Neeson told “People (the TV Show!)” February 7. “It’ll either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know.”
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The “Naked Gun” trilogy starred Leslie Nielsen as a gullible detective in a police procedural parody. The original film premiered in 1988, with subsequent sequels — “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear” and “Naked Gun 33 1/2: The Final Insult” — debuting in 1991 and 1994, respectively.
Neeson, who currently stars in “Blacklight,” previously said on the “TODAY” show (via PEOPLE) that the current action roles he is being offered are written for a lead “29 years of age” — almost 40 years his junior.
“I turn 70 this year, so I’m still getting away with it,” Neeson said, before admitting his time is limited as an action star.
“I think the action movies will draw to a close, they have to,” the “Love, Actually” icon added. “Audiences aren’t stupid, you know. They’re gonna go, ‘Oh, fuck, this guy, Liam Neeson. He’s got to be 71, 72, 73…’ I’ll stop at some stage.”
For now, though, Neeson enjoys his work: “I like doing it,” Neeson said to PEOPLE. “The scripts are good. I’m kind of like a kid in a candy store.”
Neeson explained during “Entertainment Tonight” that he “loves beating up guys half my 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,'” Neeson joked. “I said, ‘That’s the age of my eldest son!'”
Just don’t count on Neeson returning to superhero movies of any kind.
“I have no desire to go into the gym for three hours every day to pump myself up to squeeze into a Velcro suit with a cape,” the former “Darkman” star said.
IndieWire critic David Ehlrich likened Neeson’s turn in 2021 film “The Marksman” to a combination of fictional character John Wick and Clint Eastwood’s grisly onscreen persona.
“By now such an established action star that the post-‘Taken’ portion of his career has its own sub-sections nested inside of it, Neeson has developed a clear screen persona of his own,” Ehrlich wrote in his review.
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