Liam Neeson is surprised that he is still getting cast in action movies at his age. At 69 years old, the actor has over one hundred acting credits to his name. Neeson earned an Oscar nomination for his work in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List in 1993. He has worked across a wide variety of genres over the years, including action, drama, and animated films.
As of the time of this writing, the Taken star continues to take on action roles. In The Marksman, he plays a rancher at the border with the goal of protecting an immigrant who is fleeing into the United States to escape dangerous criminals from the cartel. Neeson's other recent film is Jonathan Hensleigh's (The Punisher) The Ice Road. This adventure feature follows a truck driver who seeks to venture over a frozen ocean to save miners who have been trapped after the mine collapsed on them.
In an interview with still be receiving these action roles. However, his age has not slowed down the demand. Read below for Neeson's statement:
I'm 69! I just turned 69 years of age, and the conversations I have with my agent now are, 'Liam, have you read this script? It's an action script,' and I say, 'Chris, let me ask you this, they do know what age I am, right?' 'Yes, they do.' 'Okay, that's all I want to know, thank you.' That being said, I keep reasonably fit, and you just have to for some of these films. If you're playing the lead in any film, you have the responsibility; you're in practically every scene, it behooves you to be fit. You don't have to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger at the age of 35, but you have to have stamina. So I do my little workouts every day and keep reasonably fit.
Even though Neeson is still no stranger to action films, he does still do the occasional drama, including titles like Silence, Ordinary Love, and when he lent his voice for the heartfelt A Monster Calls. However, the majority of his roles are in action or thriller movies. Even if he feels that he is getting a bit too old to pull off these films, the same sentiment is not felt by the filmmakers. There are some actors who are older than Neeson who are still doing action roles, including Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford. Stallone was most recently in Rambo: Last Blood, although Indiana Jones project.
If Neeson makes the decision to no longer do action films, that is a valid decision that should be respected. However, if he enjoys the work and is able to continue doing it, he should keep accepting the parts. Hollywood has been known for ageism for many years, so seeing more mature actors getting roles is a positive. Neeson has remained in good shape, but who knows how long he will want to keep accepting action roles.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
