Liam Neeson reveals the surprising films he’ll never do: ‘Not a fan’

Liam spoke with Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the release of his newest film Marlowe.

Liam Neeson has worked across many different genres in his film career, including romantic comedies, thrillers, action and comedies. However, there is one genre the 70-year-old claims he will never touch.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the release of his new film-noir flick Marlowe, in which he stars as Raymond Charles’ famous private detective Philip Marlowe, Liam reveals he doesn’t have a favourite genre despite shooting over 100 films and being known as quite the action star.

Liam Neeson spoke with Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the release of Marlowe, revealing the films he will never do. Photo: Supplied
“You know, I don’t have one,” he says, adding, “I’m not a big horror fan, I’ll have to say, simply because they scare me! And I’m not a fan of the superhero stuff, I know they’re everywhere and I admire them, with all their Hollywood bells and whistles and stuff, but it’s just not my genre.”

Interestingly, for someone who doesn’t like superhero films, fans will remember that the actor starred in the 2005 Batman Begins film and its sequel, The Dark Knight Rises. However, Liam has previously shared with Rolling Stone that he was interested in the Christopher Nolan-directed films due to their film noir elements.

Given the star is drawn to film noir, it was the perfect match-up for the actor to star alongside Diane Kruger in Marlowe, with Liam telling us he has a ‘test’ to know whether a project may or may not be right for him.

“Our drama depends on the spoken word. The spoken word depends on writers,” he tells us. “So whatever that script is, if I get a sense that the writing is very good, then I’m interested in it, you know?

“I always call it my ‘cup of tea test’, if my agent sends me a script, and I get to page five and I think [distractedly] ‘Oh, I must make some tea.’ That’s not a good sign,” the actor shares.

“But if I can get through the whole script, and think [excitedly] ‘Oh, I must make some tea!’ Then that’s yes! It’s a good sign,” he adds with a laugh.

‘Too old for this’

Liam claims he is now ‘too old’ for action scenes despite starring in many action films. Photo: Supplied
In Marlowe, Philip Marlowe is hired by glamorous heiress Clare Cavendish (Kruger) to find her missing lover, Nico Peterson (François Arnaud), a prop master at Pacific Film Studios. Marlowe quickly discovers that Nico has been run over by a car outside an exclusive club. However, he doesn’t trust this version of events and digs deeper, uncovering corruption and deceit among the city’s elite along the way.

Fans of Liam’s work will know he’s no stranger to an action or fight sequence, so it comes as little surprise to see a few sprinkled throughout Marlowe. However, the star isn’t as keen on them as he once was.

“There’s only two physical altercations in this film, unlike the Taken films, so it’s funny, when we actually did a physical altercation with two heavies, I had a brain switch,” he tells us. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve done this stuff before, I don’t remember reading this in the script,’ [mimics fight scene] – that stuff.”

Liam continues, “Then I added a line that came out of my head – these two guys are lying on the floor. I have to get my hat, put it on, walk to the door, which is a good 8-10 feet away. I thought well, I have to say something. It is such a long distance to not say anything to myself. So I put my hat on and I said, ‘I’m getting too old for this.’ And I meant it! [Director Neil Jordan] liked it and they said, ‘Let’s keep that in there.'”

But don’t expect Liam to slow down in any way. The actor currently has eight projects in various stages of production, and it looks like the action scenes are here to stay!

Marlowe will be released in cinemas on May 18.