Liam Neeson didn’t think famous ‘Taken’ scene would prove successful

Liam Neeson is still one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, with his 2008 movie ‘Taken’ proving to be a turning point in his career.

“I honestly thought it would go straight to video. It was a simple little story,” the actor said about the film. That isn’t how things played out, as ‘Taken’ went on to become a box office success that grossed over $200 million dollars.

The film has since been turned into a franchise, with ‘Taken 2′ and ‘Taken 3′ released in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

Neeson thought iconic ‘Taken’ scene would flop

Neeson has said that the movie helped turn him into a bonafide action star, with the role resulting in him being offered several action scripts.

One of the most famous scenes from the film happens when Neeson threatens one of the human traffickers on the phone.

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you,” he tells them.

The line, “I have a particular set of skills”, has become a catchphrase for the character Bryan Mills, and was even parodied on ‘Saturday Night Live’ back in 2013.

Although Neeson admits he sounded scary in the scene, he was convinced it would come off as “corny”.

“I certainly did sound scary, but I thought it was corny,” Neeson told Vanity Fair. “It was a cornball. I really did feel that. It’s nice to be proven wrong.”

During an appearance on the ‘Today’ show, Neeson revealed that he even told director Pierre Morel that he thought the scene would flop.

“I said this is the hokiest, I feel like I’ve seen this a thousand times in films,” he said.

‘Taken’ opened doors for Neeson

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly in 2019, Neeson said that he feels privileged to have been part of ‘Taken’ given the doors it opened for him.

“They started sending me action scripts and you’d see ‘Leading man, age 37′ crossed out and ‘late 40s, early 50s’ written in instead. I feel very privileged, and a little bit guilty. I’m having fight scenes with guys half my age and I just can’t stop laughing,” he said.