Paramount has released the first image of a gaunt and seemingly defeated Liam Neeson in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie Silence and this is definitely not the tough and badass Neeson we’ve grown accustomed to in recent actioners like the Taken franchise, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and 2015’s Run All Night as well. Not only is his role considerably meatier (we’ll get to that later), but his physical transformation is more along the lines of malnourished hobo than neck-snapping badass.
Neeson lost a considerable amount of weight for his role in Silence, where he plays a Jesuit priest. The actor spoke at the Los Cabos Film Festival on Saturday and explained he had to lose 20 pounds, along with co-stars Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield. Sure, his recent batch of movies were likely physically demanding in their own right with him karate-chopping and shooting dudes left and right, but losing 20 pounds is an opposite sort of demand; one that requires you to become weaker, not stronger, and it’s a transformation we haven’t seen from the actor in recent memory.
Also, let’s keep in mind this is a Scorsese flick. So aside from the role already asking more from Neeson as a physical being than some of his recent ones, Scorsese is asking more from Neeson as an actor as well. And that’s a good thing! He’s an exceptionally talented actor with undeniable screen presence and an impressive filmography to boot. His role, while a supporting one, of a 17th century Jesuit priest who has forsaken his faith is sure to demand his best and Scorsese is a director who won’t settle for less either.
Neeson, speaking at the festival, said of the director and his demand, “Martin is intimidating. He’s legendary — so as a performer you have to get over that. I had to get over that…He require[s] absolute silence on set, like everybody has to stop work when he’s giving a direction or explaining a scene. I mean everybody — the guy that’s painting 400 yards away has to stop. If he hears one tiny sound it’s shattered for him so he commands that respect. He commands that silence and especially for this film it was necessary.”
Mentioning Neeson’s recent films earlier isn’t to say the Irishman’s been slacking. The Taken series and some of his other actioners were elevated because of his acting chops and he was great to watch in those movies. But those weren’t exactly testing or dynamic roles nor did those movies have very compelling scripts. It’s hard to fault the man when he was thrown $20m but who doesn’t want to see the Oscar nominated actor give an Oscar worthy performance he’s surely capable of? This role, especially with Scorsese behind the camera, could yield a Neeson performance we’ve been aching for, so much so we may have even forgotten just how brilliant of an actor he is. It hasn’t been since 2012’s The Grey that we’ve seen him turn in something truly exceptional but we may just see that again when Silence hits theaters sometime in late 2016.
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