Liam Neeson has become famous for action movies in which he plays skilled operatives or assassins. The "Liam Neeson action movie" is almost its own genre now. Say that phrase, and regular moviegoers will immediately know the kind of movie you're talking about. And we love them!
MEMORY is the latest Liam Neeson action movie. The star plays Alex Lewis, an expert assassin who develops a conscience, thereby putting him in the crosshairs of the people who commissioned him for a job. But Alex has a bigger problem: He is struggling with memory loss, which complicates an already tricky situation where he doesn't know who to trust. Along for the ride is Monica Bellucci, who, she told us, "wanted to break the mold in which I've been cast many times in my life."
Neeson broke the mold for himself years ago when he starred in TAKEN. But being an action movie vet hasn't led to complacency. "I try and approach each one with a blank slate," he explained. "I don't want to be one of those actors that goes 'yeah yeah yeah, I know how to handle the gun.'" And so he takes that blank slate approach, and keeps himself "fairly fit," and he relies "on the stunt team choreographer and his team of stuntment — they're on the receiving end of a punch or a fight. It's important that we work very much together."
Watch our full MEMORY video interview with Liam Neeson and Monica Bellucci:
MEMORY opens on April 29.
All images courtesy of Open Road Films.