At 73, with more than a hundred films to his name, Liam Neeson is making an unexpected career swerve—headlining a slapstick comedy as Frank Drebin Jr. in the reboot of The Naked Gun.
From Oscar Roles to Banana Peels
Neeson’s resume is one of Hollywood’s most varied. From the searing moral weight of Schindler’s List to the bone-crunching fights of Taken, he’s kept audiences guessing. But even so, the leap into broad parody caught some by surprise.
The call came from producer Seth MacFarlane four years ago. “He proposed this reboot,” Neeson recalled. “Would I be Frank Drebin Jr.? I said yes right away.”
There were some “tiny little apprehensions.” He’d never fronted a full-scale slapstick before. But the straight-faced delivery that became his hallmark in dramas and thrillers seemed almost tailor-made for the role.
“It’s about being dead serious,” Neeson said. “If you try to be funny, it doesn’t work.”
A Life Beyond the Spotlight
Ballymena, Northern Ireland, was far from Hollywood glitz. Neeson was the third of four children in a Catholic family; his father was a school caretaker, his mother a cook. Acting first called to him in Belfast theater before film opportunities opened up.
Then came Spielberg’s Schindler’s List in 1993, earning Neeson an Oscar nod and an indelible place in cinema history.
Loss shaped his later years. The 2009 death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, in a skiing accident was shattering. Neeson focused on raising their sons and kept working, often burying himself in the craft.
Carrying Leslie Nielsen’s Torch—But Not Copying It
The original Naked Gun films, led by Leslie Nielsen, were anarchic comedies powered by a deadpan so committed it was almost martial. Neeson admired Nielsen but refused to mimic him.
“I didn’t watch them again,” Neeson said. “I didn’t want to emulate Leslie at all.”
He leaned on instincts honed over decades, trusting director Akiva Schaffer to frame the gags.
And then there’s Pamela Anderson, who plays the femme fatale. “We had chemistry,” Neeson admitted, adding that he “fell madly in love” with her work on set.
Why This Role Fits Now
Comedy’s about timing, and Neeson’s arrival here feels oddly perfect. He’d already flirted with parody in Ricky Gervais’s Life’s Too Short—where the gag was his total lack of comedic timing. Now that deadpan is the joke.
For viewers, the meta-pleasure is obvious: the man who once hunted kidnappers with “a very particular set of skills” is now tripping over evidence or walking into glass doors without breaking character.
It’s a one-off, Neeson insists. “If it succeeds, good… but I think it’s a one-off.”
Stepping Away From Action—Sort Of
The first Taken was shot 18 years ago, and Neeson admits the action-hero mantle feels heavier now. “I’m 73, and audiences are smart,” he said.
One-line honesty: “I might have one left.”
He refuses to rely on stunt doubles for entire fight scenes. “That’s insulting,” he said. “It’s obvious it’s not me.”
The Humanitarian Still at Work
Off-screen, Neeson’s longest-running role may be as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Two decades of advocacy have taken him from Mozambique to Jordan, meeting children in crisis and urging governments to help.
This fall, he plans to visit South Sudan or Ethiopia to spotlight hunger, disease, and poverty.
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In 2017, he met Syrian refugee children in Jordan
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In 2020, he visited Venezuelan refugee families in Brazil
Cuts to U.S. aid anger him deeply. “Short-sightedness… morally disgusting,” he said.
Neeson talks about his career without the weight of self-importance. Playing Oskar Schindler wasn’t a “stepping stone,” though it opened doors. Taken wasn’t meant to be a blockbuster. His Star Wars lightsaber work included making the sound effects himself until Ewan McGregor told him to stop.
In Love Actually, he remembers mostly being with Thomas Brodie-Sangster on set, feeling like their scenes were the entire film.
For someone who’s seen both the gravest drama and the silliest pratfall, the next chapter might just be laughter—whether audiences expect it or not.
