Liam Neeson has shared an update on the future of his acting career, acknowledging that “it has to stop at some stage.”
The Irish actor, who made his screen debut in the 1978 biblical film Pilgrim’s Progress, has since appeared in more than a hundred films and TV shows over the course of his lengthy career.
Known for a variety of movies, including the divisive 2003 romcom Love Actually and the Oscar-winning drama Schindler’s List, Neeson has, in later years, become an action film hero, starring in movies such as Taken (2008) and The Marksman (2021).
“I’m 72,” Neeson told People in a new interview. “It has to stop at some stage.”
The Dark Knight Rises star has always performed his own fight scenes. However, he relies on his longtime collaborator Mark Vanselow to complete some of his more daring stunts.
Recognizing that “you can’t fool audiences,” he said: “I don’t want Mark to be fighting my fight scenes for me.”
While he hasn’t officially announced his retirement from acting, he revealed that he is considering putting an end to making action films in 2025.
“Maybe the end of next year,” he said. “I think that’s it.”
Until then, Neeson fans have nothing to worry about as the Star Wars actor currently has nearly a dozen more projects in the pipeline.
For his next movie, Absolution, he has once again teamed up with Hans Peter Molan, who directed him in 2019’s Cold Pursuit. Scheduled to release in theaters on November 1, the new crime-thriller follows an aging gangster (Neeson) as he attempts to reconnect with his estranged children and make amends for his past mistakes.
“When he’s immersed in the character he is, you see the hurt, you see the pain,” Moland told People of Neeson. “He becomes that man.”
Neeson will additionally lead the forthcoming movies The Naked Gun, a reboot of the classic crime-spoof franchise, and Cold Storage, both of which are due out next year.
Meanwhile, he is set to reprise his 2021 Ice Road role in the upcoming sequel, Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky. He will also lead Guy Moshe’s Hotel Tehran, Jaume Collet-Serra’s Run All Night 2, Neil Jordan’s The Riker’s Ghost, Mark Vanselow’s The Mangoose and Tarik Saleh’s Charlie Johnson in the Flames.
