Liam Neeson Says 'Taken' Was An "Accident" & He Thought The Film Would Go "Straight-To-Video"

Liam Neeson has become a bit of an action icon, thanks to his recent film work. And he returns to the action genre in the upcoming film, “Cold Pursuit.” However, before that, Neeson was a bit of a chameleon, specializing in high-profile drama work, such as “Schindler’s List.” But that all changed with “Taken,” which sent his career on a very different trajectory. And according to the actor, it all sort of happened by accident.

“‘Taken’ was an accident,” says Neeson in an interview with EW. “I never focused on, ‘Oh, I’d love to do action movies.’ It wasn’t really on my periphery. I read [it] and just thought, ‘This would be great; just hang out with stuntmen every day and beat guys up.’ I did think it would be straight-to-video, and that was no problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Cold Pursuit’ Trailer: Liam Neeson Seeks The Perfect Revenge… Again

After the success of “Taken,” Neeson suddenly became the go-to man for action films. However, there’s one big difference between the actor and the rest of those leading men of action films – age. But alas, that didn’t stop Neeson from getting scripts for action films, albeit a bit modified.

“They started sending me action scripts and you’d see ‘Leading man, age 37’ crossed out and ‘late 40s, early 50s’ written in instead [laughs],” he explains. “I feel very privileged, and a little bit guilty. I’m having fight scenes with guys half my age and I just can’t stop laughing. It’s just so silly on one level and great fun on another.”

With “Taken,” followed by his string of other action films, the actor has created a genre of his own – “‘Taken’ but on a…” Similiar to the “‘Die Hard’ but on a…” genre, Neeson’s features the actor doing incredible action-y things while on a specific type of mode of transportation, whether its a snow plow, a train, or an airplane.

When asked what type of vehicle he’d like to base an action film around, he says, somewhat jokingly, “A car seems to be calling out, doesn’t it? You’ve got me thinking. Okay, a family station wagon that I use for Uber to make extra money, and then something happens. And the sequel is getting away from all that. I need a break and I’m having a nervous breakdown, so somebody pays for me to have a cruise. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, this is bliss,’ and then it isn’t.”

Obviously, he’s kidding, but now that we think of it, a Liam Neeson action film based around an Uber driver with a special set of skills sure does seem like an obvious choice, huh?