With the release of Taken in 2009, Liam Neeson wound up completely reinventing his career, fully embracing the role of the aging action hero. Finding incredible success with that movie, he has kept that money train rolling ever since, not only starring in two more Taken films, but also making features like The A-Team, Unknown, The Grey, Non-Stop, and A Walk Among The Tombstones. But this extended run apparently now has a time limit on it, and Neeson has now declared that he will probably only keep it going for two more years.
The Academy Award-nominee has recently been doing the press rounds for his latest action movie, Run All Night, and according to The Guardian he has admitted that he will probably stop doing so much cinematic ass-kicking when he hits the age of 64. Discussing the potential longevity of his career as an action star, Neeson said,
Maybe two more years. If God spares me and I’m healthy. But after that, I’ll stop [the action] I think.
While new potential projects can pop up at any moment, it's worth pointing out that right now Liam Neeson doesn't have any action films on his upcoming slate past Run All Night. His next film, Ted 2, is a comedy that reunites him with Million Ways To Die In The West director Seth MacFarlane. He has also already completed work on A Monster Calls, a new drama from The Impossible director J.A. Bayona about a boy trying to cope with his mother's terminal illness. Most recently he has been playing a Jesuit priest in Martin Scorsese's heavy historical drama Silence - which reunites the actor and filmmaker for the first time since 2002's Gangs of New York. So if Neeson does plan on finishing out his action career in the next two years, he may want to start picking up some new titles.
Of course, there is a big question left looming here: do we really want Liam Neeson to stop doing action movies? He's clearly still getting opportunities to do more serious/prestigious projects, and he's pretty damn great and believable as the gruff, kick-a-bad-guys-teeth-in protagonist. The opposite side of the argument is that he may not want the act to get too stale, and there's the matter of his personal health and physical abilities. It's worthy of debate!
Do you think Liam Neeson should starting exiting out of his action hero career, or do you want him to keep going forever? Answer our poll , and explain your point in the comments below.
