In his hottest motion movie “Memory,” opening April 29, Liam Neeson performs a fatal assassin dealing with his hardest struggle: the onset of Alzheimer’s.
When his character copes with his cognitive impairment as a precision hitman, the 69-year-old star has experienced Bruce Willis on his brain because his fellow motion flick staple, struggling from aphasia, just lately retired from performing.
“My coronary heart goes out to him. I consider about him every day,” Neeson informed The Post, noting that aphasia — which impacts the capacity to convey and have an understanding of language — is specifically cruel for an actor this sort of as Willis. “It’s notably poignant, isn’t it? I wish him all the finest.”
But even as the Irish icon gets ready to flip 70 in June, Neeson has no plans on slowing down. In fact, he’s refuted reports that he’s retiring from motion films.
“That was a joke,” he stated. “That was at the Toronto Movie Festival a number of yrs ago … A single of the Hollywood Overseas Push said, ‘Liam, what is it with you and these action moves?’ I said, ‘I was stubborn … [but] I’ve had sufficient of action flicks.’ But I intended it as a joke.”
Nonetheless, enjoying Alex Lewis in “Memory” — which costars Man Pearce and Monica Bellucci — designed Neeson confront the severe realities that some deal with as they get older, like decline of mental faculties. In reality, this notoriously tough guy admits to possessing a concern of Alzheimer’s.
“It has crossed my thoughts a few instances, in particular when you can not recall a name of an actor I labored with two or 3 a long time in the past,” he said. “That bugs me. But it's possible we all go through that.
“In doing some exploration for this, I viewed some quite traumatic documentaries on the affliction of Alzheimer’s and dementia, and study some books on it of course. And I have a mate in Eire, who is older than me, [who] has pretty definite early levels of dementia, which is traumatic to see … It is a terrible affliction. It genuinely is.”
And, for an actor, remembering traces is maybe the most significant resource of the trade. “I know various actors in London … who have missing the capability to understand lines,” reported Neeson. “They just cannot discover the content. And these are actors who have offered amazing performances on phase and on film and television.”
One particular point that Neeson undoubtedly has not forgotten, however, is how to kick ass onscreen. He’s been executing it at any time due to the fact he received the component of previous CIA operative Bryan Mills in 2009’s “Taken” many thanks to a fortuitous conference with director Luc Besson at the Shanghai Film Festival.
“I approached him and mentioned, ‘As a child, I was an amateur boxer, and I’d adore to be in a film wherever I have to defeat up some guys or get overwhelmed up,’” reported Neeson. “They ultimately offered ‘Taken’ to me, and I believed, ‘This is great. I get to be in Paris for three months, and we’re heading to be operating … with these stunt guys, struggle choreographers and things. And then it will go straight to video.’”
But the sleeper box-workplace good results of “Taken” led to two sequels (in 2012 and 2015) and turned Neeson into a bonafide motion star. Now, while, he’d like to flip the script and do a passionate comedy. “I’d adore to,” he claimed. “Yeah, that would be neat.”
Of study course, Neeson co-starred in the beloved rom-com “Love Actually” in 2003, and the movie continue to retains a distinctive place in his coronary heart. “You know, often I’m flicking as a result of channels at 2 o’clock in the early morning, ‘Love Actually’ commences, and … you hear Hugh Grant chatting about the very last messages from men and women [in the planes that hit] the Twin Towers. And all the messages have been messages of appreciate. I defy any person to switch channels when they hear that. I seriously do.”
In 2009, Neeson’s true-lifetime romance with actress spouse Natasha Richardson arrived to a tragic conclusion when she died from a mind injury incurred in a skiing accident. And, 13 a long time afterwards, the widower does not consider he’ll ever get married once again. “No, I feel I’m gonna be on my very own,” he mentioned, wistfully.
No doubt keeping Richardson’s memory alive, Neeson will be celebrating with the couple’s two sons — Michéal, 26, and Daniel, 25 — when he turns 70 on June 7. “And,” he included, “if just one person claims to me, ‘Liam, it’s just a selection,’ that’ll be it!”
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