Liam Neeson was “embarrassed” by ‘Taken’
In the run-up to his latest action film, The Naked Gun, Liam Neeson has revealed that he has complicated feelings towards his mainstream resurgence project, Taken.
Taken, directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, was released in 2008. The film follows a retired CIA agent who traverses Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who was kidnapped while on holiday in Paris. The film launched Neeson’s career in the action genre, which has lasted over 15 years.
The original film was followed by Taken 2 in 2008 and Taken 3 in 2014. Though the third movie was billed as the final in the series, the frontman has stated that there’s a possibility he may film a fourth.
Despite the movie’s global success, which made $226.8 million worldwide with a production budget of $25 million, Neeson recently spoke to the New York Times to reveal, “I was a tiny bit embarrassed (by Taken). Don’t get me wrong, I did love the script, but I can’t tell you how many voicemails (of the Taken speech) I’ve recorded for my sons’ friends.”
In the scene he references, the actor explains his “particular set of skills” to his daughter’s kidnappers on the phone. Famous lines include, “I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want,” and “I will find you, and I will kill you.”
In 2024, he also noted to People that he had been looking to move away from the action genre. He said at the time, “I’m 72 — it has to stop at some stage. You can’t fool audiences.” He added that he has “too much respect for audiences” to be doing such a thing.
Despite these comments and the innumerable action movies under his belt, such as 2014’s Non-Stop, 2015’s Run All Night and 2021’s The Ice Road, Neeson seems overjoyed to be involved in his new The Naked Gun project alongside Pamela Anderson.
The movie acts as a follow-up to the much-acclaimed Police Squad! TV series from the early 1980s. Neeson plays the character of Frank Drebin Jr, son of the original cop Frank Drebin, played by Leslie Nielson in its first iteration. Anderson stars alongside him as his crime-fighting counterpart. The trailer shows Neeson in one scene wearing a short schoolgirl’s outfit, which could add to his list of potential “embarrassments” that are delightful for the audience to watch.
Naked Gun hits theatres on August 1st. Watch the official trailer below.
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