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24th October 2024
10:54am BST
Liam Neeson has announced his retirement from action movies.
The Taken star shared his plans to stop filming action flicks in 2025 in a recent interview with PEOPLE. He said: “I’m 72 – it has to stop at some stage.”
Neeson gained a reputation for performing his own fight scenes although he does use a stunt double now for bigger moments but says it’s no longer believable that he would be fighting bad guys in his 70s.
Neeson said: “You can’t fool audiences. I don’t want Mark [Vanselow his stunt double] to be fighting my fight scenes for me.”
He continued: “Maybe the end of next year. I think that’s it.”
The actor, who grew up in Northern Ireland, made his film debut playing Jesus Christ in the religious film Pilgrim’s Progress in 1978.
However, his big breakthrough came in the early 90s when he played Oskar Schindler in the Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
His performance earned him a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar and helped the film earn Best Picture of 1993.
He also received BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for the performance.
Neeson’s first portrayal of an action hero didn’t come until 2008 when he starred in Taken, when he was 56 years old.
He portrayed a retired CIA operative from the elite Special Activities Division who tries to track down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped.
Neeson will continue his career as an actor but explore other genres.
Most recently, he finished filming for the reboot of The Naked Gun, where he plays Frank Drebin Jr. The film is set to be released on August 1, 2025.
In the interview, he also reflected on the death of his late wife, Natasha Richardson, who died following a skiing accident on holiday.
He said: “It was a horrible thing to happen.”
He said his sister-in-law and mother-in-law were quick to help Neeson raise his two sons, Micheál and Daniel.
He said: “Everybody just pulled together. Vanessa and Joely were extraordinary.”
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