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Even Liam Neeson realizes he can’t rely on his “particular set of skills” as an action movie star forever, and it sounds like he’s finally ready to let go. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the actor said he would probably stop making Taken-style films by the end of 2025.
“I’m 72 — it has to stop at some stage,” said Neeson, who does his own fight scenes, but leaves the tougher stunts to longtime collaborator Mark Vanselow. “You can’t fool audiences. I don’t want Mark to be fighting my fight scenes for me.”
Neeson added that he was considering an exit by “maybe the end of next year.” He continued, “I think that’s it.”
It’s worth noting that Neeson said he was moving on from action movies back in September 2017 — though he unretired just two weeks later. In 2022, the actor joked about still “getting away” with offers for those roles at nearly 70 years old, while admitting he would have to “stop at some stage” because “audiences aren’t stupid.”
Since becoming an unexpected action star with 2008’s Taken, Neeson has done more than a dozen action-thrillers, including two Taken sequels. In his next film, Absolution, Neeson plays a gangster who attempts to reconnect with his children after getting out of prison, but gets pulled back into the old life.
However, after recently wrapping filming on his Naked Gun reboot, Neeson is well-positioned to move into comedy. Slated for release on August 1st, 2025, the movie stars Neeson as bumbling cop Frank Drebin Jr. opposite a femme fatale played by Pamela Anderson.
See our ranking of every Liam Neeson action movie.