Liam Neeson might be retiring his “very particular set of skills” quite soon. The Ireland native is hailed as one of the greatest action stars after cementing himself with the beloved 2009 movie, Taken. However, with Neeson in the seventh decade of his life, he is ready to say goodbye to the beloved genre as age might be catching up with him.
The Cold Pursuit star dished on his future as action’s leading man in a new interview, saying fans won’t see him in that light for too long. “I’m 72 — it has to stop at some stage,” said Neeson to People Magazine. The actor explained that he still does most of his fight scenes while leaving the intricate stunt work to a double. However, he doesn’t see how believable it would be to viewers if he continued fighting bad guys in his 70s. Neeson doesn’t want his longtime stunt double Mark Vanselow to completely carry the burden.
“You can’t fool audiences. I don’t want Mark to be fighting my fight scenes for me,” he explained
Although Neeson’s time is wrapping up, his transition away from action movies won’t happen immediately. “Maybe the end of next year. I think that’s it,” he told the publication, not firmly committed to the timeline.
Liam Neeson’s Retirement News Met With Mixed Reactions
Neeson’s revelation sent the Internet spiralling as fans had mixed reactions. While some are sad about their favorite action star hanging up his boots, others think he is is crying wolf.
“He’s definitely earned his rest. Enjoy your retirement, Liam,” one fan wrote.
“He had a great run at those high action movies. I think he still has a few in him, though — maybe as a supporting character,” a second fan suggested.
“He said this already years ago. I’ll believe it when I see it,” wrote an unconvinced follower.
“I swear I remember him saying the same thing like 10 years ago and then 5 or 6 movies similar to Taken were released,” a similar comment read.
Regardless of whether Neeson follows through with his retirement from action movies, his legacy will forever be intact.
