“Fantastic”: The actor Liam Neeson crowned America’s greatest movie star
Of all the great Irish actors who have found success in America, you could argue that Liam Neeson sits at the top of the tree.
While Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, and many others have risen through the global ranks, Neeson embodies the old school notion of a true movie star in every sense. He is a transcendent presence who rightfully belongs among Hollywood’s elite.
Between Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Schindler’s List, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, and countless other major projects, the boy from Ballymena has earned legions of fans and made a lot of people very rich with his ability to draw a crowd.
Neeson’s remarkable career has brought him into contact with some of the biggest stars from his adopted home. In fact, with a prolific 100+ features under his wing, not to mention comedy cameos in the likes of Life’s Too Short, he’s worked with everyone there is to work with and has surely met everyone else at various industry parties and talk show recordings.
But of all these stars, one stands out to him as uniquely charismatic and crafted. When it comes to his favourite American superstar, however, there’s only one choice for Liam: the incomparable Denzel Washington.
“Denzel’s a fantastic actor, probably our greatest movie star in this country, I think,” he told Slash Film, comparing the Oscar winner to the likes of Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum. “I’ve seen him on stage. I’ve seen a lot of his films. Love those Equalizer films. I mean, Antoine Fuqua, love those movies. Denzel could do that, too. He can show a strength and a solidity and touch on the vulnerability, which is incredibly watchful.”
Rip-roaring yet surprisingly nuanced, 2014’s The Equalizer, directed by the aforementioned Fuqua, is the first in a series of three movies based on the 1980s TV show of the same name. Washington played Robert McCall (taking over from Edward Woodward), a retired soldier-turned-vigilante who ends up protecting a young sex worker from the mafia.
It was a big hit and spawned two more films over the next nine years, as well as a spin-off TV show starring Queen Latifah. The trio of movies have, in fact, earned well over $500million at the box office since the first arrived in 2014, and in all likelihood, one of them will be on TV tonight if you’ve got the action channels or ITV4.
It’s interesting that Neeson should gravitate towards the Equalizer franchise, as it holds a number of similarities to his own Taken series. Both lead characters – Washington’s McCall and Neeson’s Brian Mills – are former intelligence officers trying to live normal lives post-retirement.
They both get drawn back into a seedy underworld when a young woman is threatened – McCall’s friend and Mills’ daughter – and both exceed stereotypes about their age to rescue their charges and kick loads of ass in the process. Taken also generated two sequels and a spin-off TV show. Unfortunately, that was cancelled after two seasons, as opposed to The Equalizer’s five. Washington 1 – 0 Neeson.
Though they’ve done battle with each other in the past – The Equalizer opened against Neeson’s movie, A Walk Among the Tombstones – the two acting titans have never appeared in a movie together. Considering how long they’ve both been active and how many incredible series they’ve been a part of, it boggles the mind that the two haven’t somehow worked on the same project. Maybe that ‘McCall vs. Mills’ rivalry is more real that we thought.
He might still be waiting on his chance to work with his idol, but Neeson’s praise towards Washington is entirely earned. As a no-nonsense man of action, a historical hero, or very occasionally a campy villain, Washington is dazzling every single time he appears on screen. He embodies so much of what it means to be not only an actor but a movie star, too, and it’s nice to see that his contemporaries adore him just as much as the general public does.
A lot of this all comes down to Washington’s natural draw, too, As Mila Kunis reflected after working with him, “Whether you know who Denzel Washington is or you don’t, when he walks into the room, you’re going to pay attention, because he’s just such a powerful man.” Well, he certainly seems to have caught Neeson’s attention.
