The epic fantasy film Excalibur helped Release Liam Neeson’s career when it opened in theaters four decades ago, and Neeson is looking back on his star film 40 years later. Written and directed by John Boorman, the film retells the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Neeson plays Sir Gawain, one of the knights who confronts Sir Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) in one of the most memorable scenes.
Liam Neeson has certainly come a long way since he appeared in Excalibur, but to the consummate actor, it still doesn’t feel like 40 years have passed. Reflecting on the film’s impending 40th anniversary, Neeson fondly recalled his Excalibur experience in a new interview with ComingSoon.net.
“It seems like it was three years ago, in a sense. It was 1980, I think, we did. The movie came out in ’81, but we actually shot in 1980. [It] gave me a start. I fell madly in love with cinema making that movie. I learned to ride a horse. [The movie] My friend Gabriel Byrne was also released. A couple of people have died: Nicol Williamson, God rest him. Nigel Terry, who played King Arthur. But it is a rich movie. ”
“I loved John Boorman. He became a mentor to us because we didn’t have a lot of experience, certainly not in front of the camera. I had done a lot of theatrical work, but not in front of the camera, and John was a wonderful mentor. teaches things. He would take us behind the camera and say, ‘Look. This is what I’m seeing… ‘It was a wonderful experience. It really was. “
Neeson didn’t have much experience acting in front of a camera, but with a production shot entirely in Ireland, Excalibur was there to give the Irish actor a stroke of luck very early in his career. Thanks in part to his role as Gawain, Neeson would go on to become one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has since established himself in more recognizable roles such as Qui Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Oskar Schindler on Schindler’s roster, and Ra’s al Ghul in Batman’s Beginning.
As an action film star, Neeson is perhaps best known for starring in Taken as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent who uses a particular set of skills to save his kidnapped daughter. Neeson would reprise the role in two sequels. He has also appeared in a variety of other action films, but the actor has recently been teased that his time making these types of films is coming to an end.
“There are a couple more that I am going to do this year – hopefully COVID allows us – there are a couple in the pipeline, and so I think it will probably be that. Well, unless it’s in a Zimmer frame or something, “Neeson said of his action movie.
He may be getting old, but the star Excalibur and Taken isn’t done yet. Now he can be seen in the new movie. The shooter as a rancher and ex-marine helping a boy escape a Mexican drug cartel. Katheryn Winnick, Juan Pablo Raba, and Teresa Ruiz also star. This news comes to us from ComingSoon.net.
