Many audiences today know Liam Neeson through his action roles and the quote “I don’t know who you are…” has extremely high coverage.
However, the illustrious career of this 1m93 star is not limited to the role of a screen hero. Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
Mother is a chef, father is a school security guard. The family is Catholic. At the age of nine, Neeson began training in boxing at the All Saints youth club. The boy received many awards before stopping competing at the age of seventeen. During his youth, he joined the school theater team but had no intention of pursuing an acting career. In 1971, he took the entrance exam to study physics and computer science at Queen’s University.
However, some time later, he dropped out of school to work. Since then, Neeson has dabbled in all sorts of professions, from forklift driving to truck driving, and even planned to pursue a teaching career when he studied for two years at Newcastle University of Education.
Finally, in 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players stage in Belfast, officially making his debut with the play The Risen People. In 1977, Neeson hit the screen with a leading role in Pilgrim’s Progress.
However, the film did not create any reputation. The following year, he moved to Dublin and joined the Abbey Theater (Irish National Theatre). Here, Neeson has more opportunities to stand on stage.
He caught the eye of director John Boorman and was cast in the adventure film Excalibur (1981). This $11 million production grossed $35 million in theaters – becoming Neeson’s first memorable role. Neeson then went to London, continuing to perform on stage as well as looking for opportunities on the small screen and in low-budget films. At this time, he lived with Helen Mirren – the two stars developed a relationship while participating in Excalibur.
During the 80s, Neeson diligently acted in British television series such as The Bounty (1984), A Woman of Substance (1984), The Mission (1986) and Duet for One (1986) but his reputation never improved. It was only when Neeson moved to Hollywood that his career began to flourish. In 1987, he joined Suspect with Cher and Dennis Quaid.
☺The role of Carl Wayne Anderson helped Liam Neeson receive praise from experts. In 1988, he collaborated again with Clint Eastwood (The Dead Pool). In 1990, Neeson played Dark Man directed by Sam Raimi.
The movie was a hit, but Neeson was still in a state of “twilight”. In 1993, the important turning point in Liam Neeson’s life finally appeared.
He first appeared on Broadway in the play Anna Christie. The role helped Neeson receive a Tony nomination and also brought love to Neeson and his loving wife Natasha Richardson.
The next year, they both participated in Nell and the wedding in July. Seeing Neeson’s impressive performance on Broadway, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg invited him to star in Oskar Schindler – the hero who saved 1,200 lives. saved Jews from Nazi Germany by hiring them to work.
Schindler’s List is based on true events. Excellent names like Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson and Warren Beatty were all candidates for this powerful role, but in the end Neeson was the last one standing.
Not betraying Steven Spielberg’s trust, Neeson gave a great performance, helping him receive Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor.
Unfortunately, he could not hold the golden statue due to meeting a very strong opponent Tom Hanks. His career path began to open up, Liam Neeson became one of Hollywood’s top stars. Neeson continuously starred in major films.
Michael Collins took home the next Golden Globe nomination. In 1999, George Lucas chose him to star as Qui-Gon Jinn (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace). Not as excellent as the sequels in the late 70s and early 80s, the revenue still broke $1 billion and helped Neeson consolidate his reputation. Critics also gave him many compliments.
Since then, although he participated in commercial films, Liam Neeson began to focus on more artistic projects. He participated in Gangs Of New York directed by legendary director Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Gleeson, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis.
In 2003, he appeared in the star-studded film Love Actually with Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson… Kinsey (2004) helped Liam Neeson receive a Golden Globe nomination again.
In 2005, he had two notable works: Kingdom Of Heaven directed by Ridley Scott and Batman Begins – directed by Christopher Nolan. In 2006, after Seraphim Falls, Liam Neeson temporarily stopped appearing on screen. And then, he made a super impressive comeback with Taken. Thanks to Rape, the second spring of Neeson’s career came.
The role of a retired CIA agent trying to rescue his daughter from kidnappers suddenly became an action icon. The budget was only $25 million and the content was not appreciated, but its attractiveness helped Taken earn more than $225 million globally. The film continued to be “milked” for two more parts.
Despite being “criticized” by critics, the audience criticized “old wine in a new bottle” and still earned the producers $376 million and $326 million respectively. Liam Neeson participated in a series of A-list action films such as Clash of the Titans (2010), The A-Team (2010), Wrath of the Titans (2012