Oscar nominee Liam Neeson was 56 when his career took detour into the action hero genre due to 2008’s Taken, a Pierre Morel-directed surprise blockbuster that made more than $226 million worldwide and kick-started franchise.  He’s kept up a pace ever since, with high-octane thrillers one after the next.

“Audiences are innately intelligent and they’ll know when you’re past your prime in regards to throwing punches and firing guns, but I’m not there yet,” explained Neeson while discussing his new film, In the Land of Saints and Sinners.

The Goldwyn Films release casts Neeson, who is 72 in June, as Finbar Murphy, a man leading quiet life in remote coastal town of Glencolmcille, Ireland, in the 1970s. While eager to leave dark past behind, menacing terrorists arrives in the village, led by a ruthless woman, played by Banshees of Inisherin star Kerry Condon, forcing him to choose between revealing his secret identity or protecting his neighbors.

Spielberg and Neeson on Making of “Schindler’s List” in 1993

The film, which premiered last fall at the Venice Fest, offered Neeson another chance to work with his The Marksman helmer Robert Lorenz and to be surrounded by high-profile Irish actors and friends, Ciarán Hinds and Colm Meaney.

Neeson talks about working with longtime pals, why he signed on for the Naked Gun sequel and the upcoming film that stars his mother-in-law, Oscar winner Vanessa (“Julia”) Redgrave.

Finbar Murphy is not typical hitman

It’s a shame that he doesn’t have a more Irish name? It was a chance to work with Rob Lorenz, again, who is terrific director. This is our second time out, and we’re actively looking for third. It was also a chance to work with the brother that I never had, Ciarán Hinds; my oldest friend, Colm Meaney; Jack Gleeson; and the lovely Kerry Condon, she’s terrific. And I just thought it was a good, modern-day Western set up in the northwest of Ireland. It was a good shoot. Tom Stern, our director of photography, he was with me in Australia, and we’ve done four films together. He’s just quick and keeps a great pace. This film ticked all the boxes.

With these particular ones, Ciarán, Colm, Jack, Kerry and myself, we all leave our egos at the door. When you’re called to the set, you go. You don’t wait half an hour like some actors do. We’re there to shoot the film, tell the story. Colm, I’ve known for 40 years, and Ciarán, 50 years.

Back-to-back movies

You take the time where it’s needed, but the films that I do are the kind of fairly fast-paced thrillers. You shouldn’t be taking endless takes, you know what I mean? That can dampen down the energy on set, both in front of the camera and behind it, too. I’ve done shoots like that, and it’s like pulling teeth. I’ve been really lucky. Rob comes from the Clint Eastwood school of filming, having done, I don’t know, maybe 15 films together. Clint doesn’t hang around. I personally love that pace.

Filming The Marksman

The building block is the script and if it’s a good story and we like it and we’re committed to it, then what’s the most expedient way to shoot this and to enjoy ourselves. I don’t mean that we’re cracking jokes all the time, but there can be a lovely, healthy, experienced ambience on set. Tom, Rob, myself, Ciarán, Colm and Kerry, we have a lot of experience between us and it’s great to use that experience, without patting yourself on the back or blowing smoke up your ass. You have a sort of unspoken communication, at least I do with Rob and certain directors. You don’t have to intellectualize each scene and discuss the importance of this moment, you know what I mean? You just get it.

I remember a lot.  I wasn’t involved in anything, nor was Ciarán, who was in Belfast. My hometown was 30 miles outside Belfast, but I was a university then, 1971 and ’72. It was bad. You could hear bombs going off, drive-by shootings and stuff. It was very nasty, horrible time for everybody. So, it’s interesting to do a film like this, which is entertainment and yet it’s based on reality that happened. We didn’t bloat on it when we were shooting, but we all just got it.

It’s interesting, when I tell my American pals about growing up in the north of Ireland where we were surrounded by violence, military violence, para-military violence and the constant news about The Troubles, that leads to a certain amount of post-traumatic stress disorder. I don’t feel it, but there had to be something. Maybe that gets released in some way with film like Saints and Sinners. But when I am talking about it or when someone asks me a question about it, I think to myself, “Gosh, that did happen. Bloody hell.”

Naked Gun Movie!

Cold Storage from Jonny Campbell about fungus wreaking havoc. Your mother-in-law, Vanessa Redgrave is in it.

I had absolutely no scenes with Vanessa at all. The day she started work was the day I actually flew back home from Rome. But we were in the same hotel and so we had dinner. Her character and her scenes in the film, she’s probably going to steal the movie. She’s perfect casting for it. It’s a good script and  good story.

Conquering the action genre?

I’m 72 in June, for God’s sake. But there are a couple of scripts I’m interested in that I probably won’t get to until 2025 that aren’t specifically action-oriented. This one I did in Melbourne, Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky], there’s a bit of action. But, I think the day when my fight coordinator, Mark Vanselow, says to me, “Look, Liam, I should step in and do these,” I will know when to call it quits. Audiences are innately intelligent and to know when you’re past your prime in regards to throwing punches and firing guns, but I’m not there yet. I might have one or two left in me. I’ve been very privileged and honored to be a part of the action genre since that first Taken movie, which we shot 18 years ago.

Where do you go from here?

Just focusing on The Naked Gun. We start in May or June, in Atlanta, Georgia.