JORGE CARREON: Your co-stars can’t speak highly enough about “The A-Team” experience, which finds most of you defying type in many ways. What was the attraction?
LIAM NEESON: I had got a lovely taste of sort of action adventure with “Taken.” And I liked it. I like the physicality about it very much. I've always kept myself fairly fit and I was just looking for another opportunity to kick some ass. My agent was talking about “The A-Team.” To be honest, I was not a fan of the TV series. It just wasn’t my generation. The couple of times I did look at it, I found it kind of campy. It just wasn’t for me. It was for a younger audience. They sent me the script and I saw Ridley Scott was behind it, which was great. I love Ridley Scott. I thought it was a good kind of action-adventure movie with well-drawn characters; room for a bit of exploration there of course. They mentioned some other actors they were aiming for. Certainly Bradley (Cooper) was mentioned and Sharlto Copley. For B.A. Baracus, they had a wading pool of people they were going to look at. And so before I knew it, I was onboard.
CARREON: Do you like this new incarnation of yourself as a post-modern action male lead?
NEESON: I do actually. I was a boxer for seven years as a kid, so I did know how to throw a punch. It’s just nice to get a chance to do it on screen, you know.
CARREON: It seems like it’s the ultimate boys’ night out captured on film. Talk about the four of you first getting together as “The A-Team.”
NEESON: We were in Kamloops, I’d say about two hours east of Vancouver that was doubling for somewhere in the heart of Mexico. [LAUGHTER] We were all dressed up in our gear and we had a special photographer taking snaps. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is us” and that was a nice feeling. There was a lot of energy, a lot of good energy around, a fantastic crew, and Joe Carnahan (pictured below) who is the co-author, a very good writer, too. He’s full of energy, as I say, and invention. Always thinking of ways to improve each scene and each piece of dialogue. We got off to a really good start. However, in that first week, I was bursting out of a van with a rifle in order to save Face, Bradley’s character, and managed to rip two tendons in my right shoulder. That was a handicap for me for a while. I had to get that looked at on a regular basis for the rest of the shoot.
CARREON: You can’t help but wonder. When you’re all being directed into becoming an Alpha male type, do you ever start to think about what kind of man are you in real life?
NEESON: Well, I find it very easy to turn off. I can take the Alpha male stuff up to a certain point, and then I need my solitude. Our days on set were very long. Obviously there was a lot of testosterone running around, in front of the camera and certainly behind it. When it was quitting time, I just hibernated until the next day to be honest. I just kept a very low profile and went for long walks or did a workout or something like that, just to kind of wind down. That's roughly what I did most days.
CARREON: Watching these films, a perception exists that it is probably a 24/7 butchathon. Was there a tendency for one-upmanship?
NEESON: I think we all developed our own rhythm. I can’t think of too many instances where there was a lot of chest beating, you know? We all got along well. Bradley and I became buddies. We all just did what we had to do. But there was a lovely camaraderie. We all sort of looked out for each other without it being too forced.
CARREON: Given the prime release date of the film, it is fair to call “The A-Team” an event film. But today’s audiences have really gravitated to films that defy the action genre rules, too, like “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight,” adding that edge of darkness to it all.
NEESON: It’s not giving anything away for the story, but there’s a certain darkness that one of the characters does develop. It hinges the story in a strong way. But I agree with you, having worked on that first “Batman” and seeing how audiences reacted to it. I think you're right, audiences like that darkness and they like characters going near the edge, certainly the psychological edge. And they can take it and they want it. Audiences know that paper-thin, two-dimensional kick them, chase them, shoot ‘em up, blockbuster is gone.
CARREON: How strong is the link between the original “A-Team” TV series and the film?
NEESON: Well, it’s an homage, let’s put it that way. I mean obviously all the characters have still retained their original names from the series. We do have the classic fanfare. I would imagine it’s “The A-Team music,” but it’s been reinterpreted or zipped up in some way. But we've taken it a few steps further, in the sort of quests that these guys get up to. The danger quotient has certainly been ramped up and as I said earlier, there’s a darkness thrown in there as well, certainly for a couple of the characters, you know. And I think, I think that fans of the series will not be disappointed, I would safely say that.
CARREON: The great George Peppard is no longer with us, but did you ever get a chance to meet him?
NEESON: You know something, when I lived out in Hollywood many years ago; I was using the airport in Burbank. I don't know if you remember, but there was a jet, I don't know if it was called the M-G-M jet, it doesn't operate anymore. But it flew from L.A. to New York. And it was pretty exclusive, I thought at the time. Mr. Peppard was in the lounge; it was myself and a couple of others. And I said, “That's George Peppard and he’s smoking a cigar.” [LAUGHS] He was getting on the same flight, but I've never actually met him.
CARREON: Cohibas or not?
NEESON: I'm an ex-smoker. I'm off them 17 years and I was very conscious of that. Joe wanted me to have a cigar every now and again, and I thought, yes, that's an homage to Mr. Peppard. I could see the points in the script where I could light up. But I had a word with the props guys and they made me these beautiful rubberized cigars, various sizes. You rarely see a cigar that's smoking and lit, do you know what I mean? I thought I would be able to have this thing and just put it in my mouth every now and again. And it’s a piece of rubber but it looks real, you know. But Joe didn't like them too much because Joe does like the old cigar and he’s a little bit of a connoisseur. So we got cigars. Because it was Canada, they were Cuban cigars. I was given a little quick lesson and I just smoked them. And I must say the first time I lit it up, I was doing some scene with Bradley. And I got it. I got it. I almost dangerously got the beauty and the power of cigars, even Bradley, who is an ex-smoker himself. He said at one point, “Hey, would you give me that!” [LAUGHTER] Once the scene was over, I took it immediately out of my mouth. And he snapped it off me and proceeded to smoke it. I said, “Jeez, Bradley. How can you do that, man? It’s dangerous.” He says, “No-no-no, just this one. Boy, this is a beautiful cigar. “ And it was. As I say, it was dangerously beautiful.
CARREON: Do you see yourself as a natural leader; much like several roles you’re best known for, including this turn as ‘Hannibal’ Smith?
NEESON: No, I don't. I've never really been a company man in that sense. I've been a member of a football team and stuff like that. They were never my sports. I was a boxer. I liked that one-on-one thing. I like to think I can act it, but not really in life. I’d be way at the back of the line. I'm not a decision maker at all. I’d be useless in a real battle with soldiers. I do love taking orders. I've always been good at that. But no, I'm not a natural leader at all.
CARREON: That’s an interesting contradiction to your screen persona as you project real authority.
NEESON: I think most actors and actresses you will find are contradictions. Another thing that terrifies me and I think is true for I’d say a good 95% of actors is public speaking. Everybody thinks, “Oh, you're an actor, you'll be good at public speaking.” It literally terrifies me. I was given an honorary doctorate from a university recently. They had approached me about this three years ago and I kept putting it off, simply because I knew I would have to speak in front of a learned audience and it terrified me. I literally was inventing excuses to not be available, so it’s a real fear for me. I think it came about the first time was when I was with one of my best buddies. I was his best man. This was about 25 years ago. It was like trying to play Hamlet, you know, it was so scary. And it stayed with me. It still does stay with me.
CARREON: Torn shoulder tendons aside, you all seem to have taken a real shine to the challenges of making “The A-Team.”
NEESON: I did. I loved being with the boys and Joe was incredibly inventive. There are some scenes where he would have a microphone system. We’d be doing something and he’d get inspired and say, “Bradley, Bradley. Say something like…” or “Liam, Liam. Let’s go back again to say this instead…” He’d be writing all the time and that was quite exhilarating. You really had to think on your feet. That was a very interesting process; I’d never really done before, to that level. Sometimes totally altering the whole course of the scene.
CARREON: Now that can terrify a few studio powers.
NEESON: Oh, that happened, too! Yes, of course. And inevitably we’d have to, not every day, but inevitably we’d have to shoot a studio scene. We’d shoot our scene and then Joe would say, “Look, I'm going to have a battle on my hands, but let’s do our scene.” That way we'll somehow compromise in the middle. Joe’s the real Hannibal. He’s a good guy and he genuinely really liked our company. He got a kick out of us all being on set at the same time.
CARREON: Given the longevity of your career, what continues to compel you to remain with film, as opposed to other mediums?
NEESON: I love making them. I love being with crews. In fact, as I look back over the past ten years, it’s not individual actors I've worked with, it’s crews I’ve been with. I can remember sound recorders from certain films, and the director of photography for certain films. And, you know, the head gaffer. I can remember people like that. I love spending my days with those people. The execution of the film still gives me a real rush, and certainly that little period of time between action and cut is still very precious. It’s everything else I find the older I get, I 'm just having real trouble with, everything else that surrounds that process, certainly the publicity. I find it wears very thin with me. I just don't have the energy for it anymore, certainly the psychological energy to kind of to do all that. So that for me is hard. But that little process, still between action and cut, I absolutely love. As long as I can get a chance every couple of years or so to go back on stage, and flex those other muscles, I'm a happy camper.
CARREON: So much mania is involved in protecting a studio’s investment, especially in this age of increased financial risks. Still, the art form endures and I wonder, as someone who knows what it takes to make one, good or bad, do you still enjoy watching them?
NEESON: There’s still something with the good ones. There’s always a piece of magic that happens. I'm very fortunate to have built my own screening room. I'm a member of the Academy, so I'm sent all of those screeners. Of course it’s impossible to watch all of them, but I try and take my membership in the Academy seriously. So I watch a few films. And there’s nothing more special than sitting down with your kids on either side of you and lowering those lights and a studio logo coming up on the screen. Everybody can go into some director’s mind, or there’s some performance that is quite thrilling. I don't go to movie theaters a lot, I must admit, not as much as I should, I guess. But it is a shared experience, you know?
CARREON: Were you on the bandwagon for “Avatar” and its use of 3D? The success of “Clash of the Titans” certainly benefited from the format, but it certainly met with its detractors.
NEESON: I like the experimentation of it. I do think James Cameron and certainly George Lucas to a certain extent are the Jules Vernes of their generation. Between you and I, I have not had a chance to see “Avatar” yet, because any attempts I did make to try and see it, the movie theater was always packed. I'm curious to see it, but I agree with you. Adding on the 3D effect afterwards is not good. But I have a feeling it’ll come back to the old format. Maybe every now and again, there’ll be something special made in 3D, but I think at the moment it’s a fad.
CARREON: Do you remember the first time when those lights went down and recognized something in yourself to become an actor?
NEESON: No, I can’t. Perhaps a matinee audience with other kids, you know, the lights going down and seeing Laurel and Hardy for the first time. It was a little movie shown before a Western. And I can’t remember who was in the Western, but just being with other kids. And seeing Laurel and Hardy coming up on screen was pretty magical.
CARREON: As this is your first major franchise effort, how is it possible that it hasn’t come up before?
NEESON: I was being courted for James Bond a number of years ago, and it seems to have lodged certainly in the British journalists’ mind that I was offered Bond and I turned it down, which was not the case. I was being seen for it, and quite seriously seen for it, but so were a bunch of other actors too. And was actually I was actually very glad Pierce (Brosnan) got it because he’s a friend and I thought he was wonderful as Bond.
CARREON: You’re known for being quite protective of your personal life. It’s interesting to note in this new media generation that half the room wants to be noticed while the other half wants to keep some semblance of privacy.
NEESON: I'm a father of two boys, so come hell or high water; I'm determined to have a normal life for my kids’ sake. I also live in New York and New Yorkers really don't care. They might say “Hi” to you on the street or something like that, but no one really stops me or gives me a hard time with all that stuff. So, it’s fine. If I'm at my son’s football games or hockey games, people are very respectful of that. Now I am not Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. I know that's on a different level and I do not know how those guys handle that stuff. But with me and my boys, I'm just determined to lead as normal a life as I can and really, it’s, touch wood, it’s been okay.
CARREON: Do you feel responsibility with the roles you pick, the type of image of male you're projecting for your boys?
NEESON: It’s always there, sure. But as long as there is a quality to the film, i.e., that it’s well made and whatever genre it is, that it’s telling a good story within that genre; that it’s not too excessive. Having said that, of course you could say, “Well, what about ‘Taken?’ (pictured right). But I'm okay with that. It’s always in the back of my head, what will my kids think of this. It’s much more if I'm being dishonest in a scene or my acting is not up to par, even if it’s doing some physical stuff. If I sense there’s not a truth to it that would weigh on my mind. As far as my kids, they're at an age now where they really can spot dishonesty in acting or in attitude.
CARREON: Were you a boy who jumped off roofs?
NEESON: It was always westerns as a kid, and especially Audie Murphy westerns. Murphy (pictured left) was my hero as a schoolboy. He made a whole bunch of those B-movie westerns and I'm sure I saw all of them in my hometown in Ireland. But to come out of the movie theater after that and to be beating the side of your body with your right hand as you were pretending to ride a horse and stuff, I’ll never forget those moments. They were just extraordinary. We were bursting to get out, inspired by these horses going across deserts or mountainous terrain. Being chased by guys with guns and stuff, that was just the ultimate. It was a very innocent time.
CARREON: We’re getting close to wrapping up this conversation. So, what’s looming in the horizon?
NEESON: Well I’ve just done a film for Joel Silver over in Berlin. I literally just got back about a week ago. It’s a new film (“The Unknown White Male”) from Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed “Orphan.” It’s a thriller. I'm sharing the screen with Diane Kruger and January Jones from “Mad Men,” Aidan Quinn, the wonderful Bruno Ganz. It was “The A-Team” and then I went straight off after Christmas to Germany. I'm kind of burned out at the moment, to be honest. So I'm planning a bit of a sabbatical.
CARREON: It’s a beautiful day today in New York City. Perfect for some solitude, for sure.
NEESON: I'm going to go around the park. I sometimes go around it twice, so I'm feeling like a twice run walk at the moment, before the kids get back from school. I think that's what I'm about to do.
This story can be found at Liam Neeson
