William John Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has been nominated for several awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actor, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.
In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players’ Theatre in Belfast for two years. He then acted in the Arthurian film Excalibur (1981). He starred in five films between 1982 and 1987, most notably The Bounty (1984) and The Mission (1986). He landed a leading role in Next of Kin (1989) and rose to prominence when he starred as Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List (1993).
He has since starred in highly successful films such as the drama Nell (1994), the historical biopic Michael Collins (1996), Les Misérables (1998), the space opera Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), the biographical drama Kinsey (2004), the superhero film Batman Begins (2005), the action thriller series Taken (2008–2014), the survival film The Grey (2011), and Martin Scorsese’s religious epic Silence (2016).
He also provided the voices of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy (2005–2010) and the titular monster in A Monster Calls (2016).
In 2020, Neeson was listed at number 7 on The Irish Times list of Ireland’s 50 greatest film actors.
“I’m a big believer in acts of kindness, no matter how small.”—Liam Neeson
“Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly.”—Liam Neeson
“I finally stopped smoking for good.”—Liam Neeson
“For every successful actor or actress, there are countless numbers who don’t make it.”—Liam Neeson
“It’s an ongoing joy being a dad.”—Liam Neeson
“It’s best to keep acting real.”—Liam Neeson
“You think your life is going one way and then suddenly, you’re on another track.”—Liam Neeson
“It’s interesting, the more successful you become the more people want to give you stuff for nothing.”—Liam Neeson
“I don’t do my own stunts, but I do my own fighting.”—Liam Neeson
“I’m very much a homebody.”—Liam Neeson
“You do create your own luck too.”—Liam Neeson
“Looking out for your children is an ongoing process throughout your life.”—Liam Neeson
“You get to a time in your life when you think you have all the friends you will ever have.”—Liam Neeson
“Acting is invigorating. But I don’t analyse it too much.”—Liam Neeson
“For all of nature’s wonder and beauty, it is also hostile and unpredictable.”—Liam Neeson
“There’s a plan in everything and I love it when a plan comes together.”—Liam Neeson
“I do shadow boxing and use a heavy bag, but I don’t spar with anyone.”—Liam Neeson
“You can’t be a movie director without real preparation.”—Liam Neeson
“When I see great boxers, it’s like reading a wonderful poem.”—Liam Neeson
“Why would anyone ever tell anything personal to a journalist?”—Liam Neeson
“I keep fit as much as I can.”—Liam Neeson
“I’ve had an unbelievable life.”—Liam Neeson
“I’ve been very lucky.”—Liam Neeson
“America has been very, very good to me.”—Liam Neeson
“Getting married and settling down isn’t the most important thing in my life.”—Liam Neeson
“I never forget where I’m from.”—Liam Neeson
“You can’t act being a boxer. It’s like being on stage.”—Liam Neeson
“I love working with children.”—Liam Neeson
“Acting with creatures that aren’t there is kind like acting with an actor who refuses to come out of his trailer. You still have to go on and do the scene.”—Liam Neeson
“I don’t think I’m funny.”—Liam Neeson
“Give me a minute, I’m good. Give me an hour, I’m great. Give me six months, I’m unbeatable.”—Liam Neeson
“Sex is controversial, it just is and it always will be.”—Liam Neeson
“I loved school.”—Liam Neeson
“It is fun to explore these kick-butt characters.”—Liam Neeson
“I think I survived by running away.”—Liam Neeson
“No matter what anyone says, don’t trust them.”—Liam Neeson
“I’ve never been in a street fight.”—Liam Neeson
“I love doing my own stunts but it’s hard.”—Liam Neeson
“I can always act.”—Liam Neeson
“It’s easy to plan jobs, to plan a lot of work.”—Liam Neeson
“Always mind your surroundings.”—Liam Neeson
“I’ve made many films and only a few times I’ve played real people.”—Liam Neeson
“I have to make it my job to be careful with my family.”—Liam Neeson
“Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair.”—Liam Neeson
“I never did think of myself as handsome.”—Liam Neeson
“You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.”—Liam Neeson
“Power is when we have every justification to kill and we don’t.”—Liam Neeson
“Always remember: the universe has a way of leading you to where you’re supposed to be, at the moment you’re supposed to be there.”—Liam Neeson
“Love is the answer, isn’t it? But sex raises a lot of very interesting questions.”—Liam Neeson
“All men with honor are kings. But not all kings have honor.”—Liam Neeson
“I’m learning to live with a lot of things.”—Liam Neeson
“Overkill is underrated.”—Liam Neeson
“When a dog has a bone, the last thing you want to do is try and take it from it.”—Liam Neeson
“Men fear most what they cannot see.”—Liam Neeson
“I don’t subscribe to coincidence. I believe that no matter how random things might appear, there’s still a plan.”—Liam Neeson
“Everybody’s replaceable.”—Liam Neeson
“We have a weapon more powerful… than any in the whole arsenal of the British Empire! That weapon… is our refusal!”—Liam Neeson
“The general wisdom is that, in the end, there isn’t just one person for each of us.”—Liam Neeson
“Things never happen the same way twice.”—Liam Neeson
“Everybody’s sin is nobody’s sin, and everybody’s crime is no crime at all.”—Liam Neeson