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Liam Neeson was born in Northern Ireland, starting in the Irish theater before embarking on a film career. He had a small role in the stylish 1981 King Arthur film called “Excalibur” which quickly provided him roles in other films and on television.
Neeson struggled a bit in his early days to find substantial roles and was often cast based on his good looks and imposing physical appearance. Gradually he began to establish himself as a serious actor worthy of deeper roles.
Some of this was accomplished by his frequent return to the stage particularly in a highly acclaimed Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” in which he met his future wife Natasha Richardson and was spotted by Steven Spielberg, who cast him in his film “Schindler’s List.”
Neeson’s filmography includes such diverse work as the “Star Wars” prequel films to playing extremely against type as Oscar Wilde in the Broadway play “The Judas Kiss.” In recent years the actor has made a lot of action films and thrillers which were sometimes met with less than enthusiastic words from critics although some were box office hits.
Part of the variation in quality that his recent output includes may be due to the fact that the actor has said he needed to keep busy and accept a lot of film offers as a way to deal with the grief he felt after his wife was killed in a freak ski accident.
While not all his films are classics he has produced an impressive number of fine performances. Take a tour of our photo gallery of his 12 greatest movies, ranked from worst to best. Our list includes “Love, Actually,” “Silence,” “Batman Begins,” “Husbands and Wives,” “Gangs of New York” and more.
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese based on the novel by Shusaku Endo. Starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Ciaran Hinds.
Neeson had a prime supporting role as Cristovao Ferreria in Martin Scorsese’s 2016 film. Neeson plays a Jesuit priest who while trying to convert people to Christianity witnesses the torture and abuse of those who have converted.
He is rumored to have renounced his faith after he himself is tortured. Two of his students then set out to find him. Neeson received early buzz of a possible Oscar nomination for this role but ultimately, he along with the film itself did not follow up its early Oscar talk. (It only received one nomination for Cinematography.)
Directed and written by Neil Jordan. Starring Julia Roberts, Aidan Quinn, Alan Rickman.
Having been born in Northern Ireland the real-life character of Michael Collins was a role Neeson greatly aspired to play. Collins was a guerilla fighter who led a revolution against the United Kingdom which ultimately freed Ireland from being ruled by the UK.
Hopes were high for the film as it seemed on paper like sure fire critical raves and prime Oscar bait since director Neil Jordan was following up his highly successful previous films “The Crying Game” and “Interview with the Vampire” and Neeson’s previous girlfriend Julia Roberts joined the film for box office clout.
Ultimately while Neeson gives a strong performance and earned a Golden Globe nomination the film fell slightly flat with audience and critics and Oscar only nominated its Cinematography and Original Score.
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones. Written by Alan Sharp. Starring Jessica Lange, Tim Roth, John Hurt.
The year prior to “Michael Collins” Liam Neeson had a bigger success with the biographical drama “Rob Roy” in which he plays Scottish clan leader Robert Roy MacGregor who is fighting to save his clan from starvation.
While the New York Times was mixed on the film, critic Janet Maslin called Neeson “a robust presence.” He has many passionate and dramatic scenes with the excellent Jessica Lange however it was Tim Roth as the film’s villain who walked away with the film’s only Oscar nomination (Best Supporting Actor.)
Directed by Michael Apted. Written by Michael Handley and William Nicholson. Starring Jodie Foster, Natasha Richardson, Jeremy Davies.
Neeson had a starring role in this film that features Jodie Foster as a young woman found living alone in an isolated cabin. The girl seems to speak her own language and has lives an isolated life not interacting with other people.
Neeson plays the town doctor who is called in to figure out how to communicate with the girl.
The film marks his only on-screen appearance with his wife Natasha Richardson who plays another doctor who joins the case to figure out whether Nell is autistic or merely speaking in her own language because she never learned any other one.
Directed by Pierre Morel. Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Starring Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Famke Jannssen.
Neeson had one of his most popular and successful films in 2008 with “Taken” the story of a retired CIA agent named Bryan Mills who is trying to rekindle is relationship with his teenage daughter.
When the daughter is kidnapped Neeson embarks on a long and action-packed journey to find her. The film was a huge box office success and two sequels to the original were eventually made.
Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes.
Neeson had a key role and a surprisingly villainous one in this first film of the Christopher Nolan directed Batman movies. After Gary Oldman opted instead to play Commissioner Gordon in the film, Nolan cast Neeson against type as the film’s crazy main villain.
First revealed as a sympathetic character (which Neeson usually plays) Nolan is said to have loved the surprise factor that Neeson turns out to be the film’s most insane character. The film was a huge success and inspired two equally acclaimed sequels.
Directed and written by Bill Condon. Starring Laura Linney, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton.
Neeson played the title role of Alfred Kinsey a pioneering doctor who studied sexual behavior in this biopic. Kinsey was one of the first people to exclusively study sexuality in humans and published a landmark book on the subject in 1948.
The film was highly acclaimed and Neeson earned Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations for his work. On Oscar day though he was left out but his co-star Laura Linney did receive a Supporting Actress nomination.
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz.
In one of Scorsese’s most acclaimed but also most divisive films Neeson has a small but pivotal role as Priest Vallon the leader of one of two warring gangs in 1800s New York City. Neeson leads the Catholic gang while Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher leads the protestant faction. When Bill kills Vallon his young son witnesses the attack.
Years leader the son returns (in the form of Leonardo DiCaprio) to take on Bill and avenge his father’s death. While his screen time is relatively brief Neeson makes a huge impact as the beloved father whose death sets the gears in motion for the films plot.
Directed and written by Woody Allen. Starring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Judy Davis.
This Woody Allen film was somewhat overshadowed in its release by the war that had broke out between Allen and his then girlfriend and usual leading lady Mia Farrow.
The film was released amidst allegations that Allen had molested their daughter Dylan and then had an affair with another of Farrows children, Soon-Yi Previn whom Allen would later marry and remain with to this day. Putting all that aside the film is a volatile and often painful look at the difficulties people have in romantic relationship.
Neeson plays a sensitive magazine writer who gets trapped in between the films two main female characters played by Farrow and Oscar nominee Judy Davis. Neeson deserves praise for his calm steady presence in this film in which he is often subjected to the whims and extreme emotions of the two women he is involved with.
Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Written by Michael Bortman based on the novel by Sue Miller. Starring Diane Keaton, Jason Robards, Ralph Bellamy.
This largely forgotten film offered Neeson one of his first starring roles in American movies. Neeson plays Leo Cutter a sculptor who begins dating Diane Keaton (in one or her best and overlooked performances) who plays a divorced piano teacher who is raising a six-year-old daughter. The film (based on a highly acclaimed novel) deals sensitively with the subject of child molestation.
When Keaton’s daughter inadvertently walks in on Neeson when he is in the shower a series of misunderstandings leads to Neeson being accused of molesting the child and escalates an already contentious custody battle Keaton is having with her ex-husband.
Neeson is excelllent in this film where he plays a man who thought he was dealing properly with the awkwardness of the incident with the girl in the shower but instead ends up losing the woman he loves and costing her the custody of her child.
There are scenes toward the end of the film filled with incredible rage and pain as Keaton and Neeson argue about what has happened. Keaton who had largely moved back into comedy at this point in her career is stunningly good here and the performance recalls the dramatic power she brought to some of her most acclaimed roles in such classic films as “Reds” and “Looking for Mr. Goodbar.”
Directed and written by Richard Curtis. Starring Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson.
Neeson plays an understanding but sometimes bemused widower trying to guide his young stepson through his first romantic crush and the death of his mother in this very popular film that has become kind of a holiday season classic on TV.
Sadly, the film would later come to mirror Neeson’s real life when his wife and sometime co-star actress Natasha Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson) was killed in a skiing accident leaving two young sons for Neeson to raise alone. This is one of Neeson’s most popular films and he gives a great performance as does the rest of the large ensemble cast.
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Steven Zaillian based on the book by Thomas Keneally. Starring Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall.
No film of Neeson’s will probably ever top Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece “Schindler’s List.” Spielberg entrusted Neeson with the complex role of real life German businessman Oskar Schindler. Schindler was a member of the Nazi party who moves to Poland to create a business and make money during World War II.
He sets up a factory in Krakow’s Jewish Ghetto that becomes quite profitable. As the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jewish race begins Schindler witnesses the killing of most of the residents of the ghetto.
This has a huge effect on him and he then begins to try to save the lives of as many of his Jewish factory workers as he can. Schindler is an incredibly complex role and one who people forgot was not always a sympathetic figure.
Neeson expertly conveys Schindler’s transformation from self-involved war profiteer to risk taking hero. Spielberg uses Neeson’s huge hulking physical presence to expert effect.
The film won seven Oscars including Best Picture and Director and earned Neeson his only Oscar nomination (as Best Actor) to date.
