Irish-born actor Liam Neeson is celebrating his 70th birthday, and with it, over five decades of memorable and outstanding performances in film and television.
A classically trained theater actor, he made his way through the early days of his career with minor roles in critically acclaimed films such as “The Mission” (1986) and “Husbands and Wives” (1992). But his big break came when he took on the role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s best picture winner “Schindler’s List” (1993). Neeson was nominated for best actor for his turn as the German industrialist that saved over 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, but lost out to Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia.”
Since then, he’s taken on notable roles in dramas such as “Nell” (1994) opposite Jodie Foster and “Michael Collins” (1996), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for lead actor in a drama. He has also presented other awards-worthy performances that have gone unnoticed, such as the grieving father who helps his son get the girl in “Love Actually” (2003) and the controversial sexologist in “Kinsey” (2004).
An unadulterated movie star, he’s been part of the most significant action blockbusters and franchises over the last 25 years.
Starting with Sam Raimi’s cult-classic “Darkman” (1990), Neeson has played Qui-Gon Jinn, who identifies as a young Darth Vader in George Lucas’ first prequel film “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999) and the villainous Ra’s al Ghul in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” (2005), However, one of his best known — and most quotable — roles is when he shared his “particular set of skills” in the “Taken” franchise, which spawned two sequels and grossed nearly $1 billion collectively worldwide.
Neeson has elevated the action genre in various ways, exploring new realms of the cinematic landscape as a sharpshooter-turned-wolf fighter in “The Grey” (2012) and as a husband that does some evil deeds and resents the Blackness of his wife in “Widows” (2018).
With two Tony nominations for best actor in a play — “Anna Christie” in 1993 and “The Crucible” in 2002 — there’s not much he cannot do. As he conquers role after role in Hollywood, his Oscar moment will hopefully be somewhere on the horizon.
Variety is ranking Neeson’s 10 best film performances below.
Honorable mentions: “Rob Roy” (1995), “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005), “The LEGO Movie” (2014), “A Monster Calls” (2016)
