Liam Neeson, the 73-year-old actor known for his iconic role in Taken, has taken on a new challenge as the lead in a reboot of the classic spoof cop movie The Naked Gun. The film, which has earned rave reviews, sees Neeson playing Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Leslie Nielsen's character from the original 1988 comedy. Critics have praised Neeson's deadpan delivery, with The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw noting he 'deadpans it impeccably' and The Telegraph's Robbie Collin saying he 'delivers his dialogue with a gravelly matter-of-factness that only compounds its lunacy'.
Neeson's career has spanned a wide range of genres, from heavyweight dramas like Schindler's List (for which he earned an Oscar nomination) to blockbuster sci-fi in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and superhero epics like Batman Begins. Born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Neeson was inspired to become an actor after watching the firebrand Protestant leader Rev Ian Paisley preach. His early leading roles included the Scottish drama The Big Man, the historical biopic Rob Roy, and the politically sensitive Michael Collins.
After losing leading-man status in Hollywood, Neeson's career was revitalised by the 2008 film Taken, which he thought would 'go straight to video' but instead became a massive hit, grossing nine times its budget and launching the 'dad action' genre. He went on to star in a string of similar films, including Unknown, Non-Stop, and The Ice Road. His reinvention as an action star came after the tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, in a 2009 skiing accident.
