Liam Neeson admits he has a complicated relationship with Taken, the blockbuster franchise that revived his career as an action star.
The 73-year-old became an unexpected box-office draw when he starred in the 2008 thriller about a determined father rescuing his daughter from sex traffickers. The film, co-starring Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen, spawned two sequels in 2012 and 2015 and typecast Neeson in a string of similar action roles.
“Don’t get me wrong-I loved the script,” he clarified. “But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recorded that speech from the movie on my sons’ friends’ voicemails.” Neeson shares two sons, Micheál, 30, and Daniel, 28, with his late wife, actress Natasha Richardson.
That now-iconic line about his character Bryan Mills’ “very particular set of skills” has followed Neeson for over a decade.
“Particular Set of Skills”
Neeson recalled in an October 2024 interview with PEOPLE that the line even surfaced during jury duty. while waiting to be released, the clerk jokingly quoted the monologue, “He’s calling, I don’t know, 55, 60 of us. He gets to me, but all I’m hearing is, ‘I have a particular set of skills. Skills that would make me…’ And I thought, ‘Oh f**k no.'”
“It was actually really sweet and flattering,” Neeson admitted. “As I was leaving, people started to applaud.” Reflecting on the film’s impact, he added, “Taken clearly struck a nerve with audiences-it connected on some deeper level.”
Looking ahead, Neeson said he’s preparing to step away from action films. “There comes a point when audiences know. And I don’t want to insult them by pretending I’m still 50. I respect them too much for that.”
