IRISH action star Liam Neeson has admitted that he may have taken his drastic 10kg weight loss for a movie role “too far”.
Neeson shed the pounds for Martin Scorsese’s 2016 epic drama Silence – in which he played a starving Catholic priest taken captive in Japan almost four centuries ago.
Pictures of Neeson cutting a “frail and gaunt” figure on the streets of New York two years ago prompted concerns over the actor’s changing appearance – but he later revealed that the dramatic weight loss was for the period movie.
The Schindler’s List star said that as extreme as his diet was, his Silence co-star Adam Driver took things even further – and looked “like something out of Auchwitz” on set.
“Yes, I lost a lot of weight (over 20lbs) for a Martin Scorsese film called Silence,” Neeson explained to news.com.au.
“And I liked the feeling.”
Neeson went on to say that his latest role, as the title character in the upcoming Watergate drama Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House, saw him push his diet to even greater extremes.
“I kind of took it too far in this (Mark Felt role), to be honest,” he admitted.
When photos of the Co. Antrim native appearing particularly lean circulated back in 2015, speculation was rife on social media as to whether something more sinister than a movie role was at play.
Perhaps then it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Neeson isn’t a fan of social networking – which he described as a “lawless” medium.
Liam Neeson is Deep Throat in the trailer for MARK FELT - THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE, in select theaters 9/29 #MarkFelt pic.twitter.com/b8TQvg04MH
— Sony Classics (@sonyclassics) August 29, 2017
“I don’t interact myself, I must admit. I’m not on Facebook or Twitter or any of that stuff,” the 65-year-old continued.
“It seems to be the new frontier and it seems lawless at the moment. And I find that terrifying.
“Everybody seems to want their 15 minutes of fame, don’t they? It does seem lawless and very, very scary.
“You delete something and you think, ‘Where the fuck does it go?’ Certainly somewhere to be grabbed by some little 15-year-old ... who has information on all of us perhaps.
“It’s very frightening. But you have to marvel at the ingenuity of mankind.”
He added: “It’s an extraordinary tool, but it’s a dangerous tool, too.”
Despite his reputation as one of the biggest action stars in the world, the 6’3 Irishman revealed he has never gotten into a real fight in his life.
“I’ve never been in a real altercation. I’m just being very honest, but I’ve never got into a fight, ever,” he said.
“But if I were to, according to the SAS guys I’ve trained with, they all say that no matter how skilled you are physically, at the first sign of a fight in a bar or restaurant, you check where the exit is and leave immediately.
“You don’t try to prove yourself, you just get out. Maybe I have another year to play those action roles, but that’d be it.
“Otherwise, I’m sure audiences will go, ‘Oh come on! You’re beating up five guys and you’re 65! Get over it!’”
He laughed: “Audiences aren’t stupid.”
