In 2009, a Luc Besson-produced action movie called Taken propelled Irish actor Liam Neeson into a realm rarely seen by an actor who had passed his 55th birthday, as the actor was suddenly considered by Hollywood and movie fans to be a viable action star. Granted, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have all retained their action star status well into their 50s, but the popularity of a serious actor in such a role was surprising despite Neeson having already appeared in the “Star Wars” prequels and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.
Neeson’s highly-skilled special agent Bryan Mills is now back in Taken 2, which continues the story as Bryan and his family–ex-wife Lenore (Famke Jansson) and teen daughter Kim (Maggie Grace)–decide to spend some quality time in Istanbul, unaware that a group of Albanian killers are converging on their location to get revenge for those killed by Bryan while trying to save his daughter.
ComingSoon.net attended the New York junket for the movie and spoke to Neeson, and in the video interview below, you can hear him talk about:
* Why he thinks Bryan Mills has resonated with so many people
* How he got to spend more time with Famke and Maggie Grace in the sequel
* If they were able to throw anything his way that surprised him
* Shooting in Istanbul
* What it’s been like becoming an action star well into his 50s
* He talks a bit about Paul Haggis’ “Third Person” and his next thriller with Joel Silver, “Non-Stop”
And more!
