While Taken turned Liam Neeson into an action star, Absolution is much more of a character study. Neeson told ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief why the movie appealed to him, plus his thoughts on the original title and more. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the crime thriller on November 1, 2024.
“An aging gangster attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, but the criminal underworld won’t loosen their grip willingly,” says the synopsis for the Liam Neeson movie Absolution.
Tyler Treese: I will watch you kick ass any day of the week, gladly, but what I liked about Absolution was that there’s still some ass-kicking, but this is very much a character study. I loved seeing this man really reckon with his life. What really drew you to this project?
Liam Neeson: [Absolution appealed to me] for the very reasons you’ve outlined, Tyler. I’ve done several sorts of action films, beating guys up, firing guns and stuff, but I, I like the idea of this almost burnt-out character who’s done a lot of nasty things in his life for money, but he treats it all as a job. But when it comes to family, he realizes he just hasn’t been a good parent. In fact, he’s been a very bad parent. But when he meets his grandchild, something gets to his soul and there’s maybe a chance for some kind of redemption for him. I don’t mean in a religious sense, but something in his spirit is crying out for some kind of absolution, I guess.
I thought it was interesting that the film was originally titled Thug before it got changed to Absolution, and then when the film ends, your character is just credited simply as Thug. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the character being credited that way. You don’t even get a name here.
It doesn’t have a name. Yes. The original title of the film was Thug. I much prefer it myself. It was changed for whatever reasons. I’m not sure. Absolution suggests to me, being Irish Catholic myself, that you’re going to be forgiven for what you’ve done. That’s gonna [be a] spoiler for an audience, you know? I didn’t see that in the credits at all, that I’m just thug, but I’m glad it’s there, you know?
One of the aspects I really enjoyed about this film is we see your daughter played by Frankie Shaw. They have a very strained relationship, but she’s just a firecracker. Very sharp-tongued. How was it working with her? You have some back-and-forths that are really entertaining.
I saw Frankie maybe two and a half or three years ago in this TV series, SMILF, with Rosie O’Donnell, and she just blew me away. She really did. I thought it was a fantastic show. I fell in love with Frankie Shaw and Rosie O’Donnell. I know Rosie a tiny little bit. I was really captivated by it.
So when I heard she was casting this, it was like, “Oh, this is terrific. Yeah, she’s great.” Frankie is a wonderful writer, too. She’s doing a little film, actually, we’re gonna shoot it in Ireland. It’s set in America called 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank based on a comic book. Frankie has written it. She’s going to direct it, and she needs me for two or three weeks in Ireland at the end of November. So I’m looking forward to it. She’s such a talented lady. Really, really talented.
In the movie Memory, your character had Alzheimer’s, and they’re very different films, but this time, you’re playing a character that is dealing with concussion issues, CTE, and he’s having recall issues. Did your prior role in Memory help your prep here, or were they totally different?
I think it did. I was talking to some journalist earlier. I, just throughout the course of my life, I was an amateur boxer from when I was nine to when I was 16 or 17. But during the course of my life, I’ve met a couple of ice hockey players who had taken too many falls and certainly a couple of ex-professional boxers, too. I don’t know if they had CTE, but there was just a struggle with their thoughts and their memory, and I just find them very, very touching.
When I read the script that Hans Petter Moland sent me, I quickly said yes. My preparation was just I knew he had to come from a different time with a mustache, sideburns, and the old-fashioned leather jacket. He was a product of the seventies, and he was still kind of living in that era, you know? But I was very touched by him, and I hoped I could project something about humanity coming through.
You’re quietly having a really phenomenal year. I loved In the Land of Saints and Sinners as well. What does it mean for you to still be getting these really interesting roles with a good bit of nuance to them? That can’t be said for all actors when they’ve been in the business this many years.
Thank you, Tyler. I appreciate you saying that. It’s a big compliment. Look, I’ve been very, very lucky for a start. Really, really lucky. Yes, I’m 72. They still send me scripts to do. Some of them I beat some guys up, some I don’t. But I just feel privileged and really honored that I get sent, occasionally, a really good script. You know, there are several that I’m very quick to pass on, but I’m still lucky enough to be sent them.
I really enjoyed The Ice Road, and I know the first movie had some really rough shooting conditions. You filmed the second. Was that equally as taxing or did they go a bit easier on you this time?
Well, the second one is set in Nepal and the little roads leading up into the Himalayas subsequently up to Mount Everest. We shot it in Melbourne. There were some tough days, let’s put it that way. But it was good to get the team back again, you know? It has a few surprises. I think it’s gonna be a good film, actually.
Thanks to Liam Neeson for taking the time to talk about Absolution, which is out November 1 in theaters.