Playcenter
1999



Liam Neeson: Acting with the Force

The acclaimed actor picks up a lightsaber in The Phantom Menace

Liam Neeson made his name playing well-known historical
figures in such films as Schindler's List, Michael Collins,
and Rob Roy. But, in Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace,
he tackles a role that may be his most popular: Qui-Gon Jinn,
the Jedi master of young Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Amazon.com contributor Marshall Fine talks to Neeson about the
trials of acting in a movie laden with so many special
effects.

Amazon.com: This film forced you to do a lot of blue- and
green-screen acting, where you're acting in an empty room,
with characters and sets to be added later digitally. Was
that a difficult adjustment to make?

Liam Neeson: The first couple of weeks, it was very
difficult to get into that way of working. Sometimes you'd
be rehearsing with an actor and sometimes not. You'd see a
model of what the creature you're doing the scene with will
be like--and then everything is taken away.

Amazon.com: Did you learn anything by rewatching the
original films?

Neeson: The wonderful thing about the first Star Wars was
how the actors sold it. That was what made it work for me:
their nonchalance. They had to make it seem like this
reality was everyday stuff for them. I tried to do the same
thing, to be kind of throwaway with it.

Amazon.com: What do you think about all the hype--and about
the people who have been building their lives around the
opening of the film, the ones who will see it over and over?

Neeson: It's a democracy, isn't it? Personally, I have other
things to do. It's only a movie. It's not George Lucas who's
putting all this pressure on; it's hype created by the
media. It's like a forest fire that started with a little
flame--and then it was off and running.


Liam Neeson Filmography

Excalibur (1981) ... Gawain
"Woman of Substance, A" (1983) (mini) ... Blackie O'Neill
Krull (1983) ... Kegan
"Ellis Island" (1984) (mini) ... Kevin Murray
Bounty, The (1984) ... Churchill
Arthur the King (1985) (TV) ... Grak
Innocent, The (1985) ... John Carns
"If Tomorrow Comes" (1986) (mini) ... Inspector Trignant
Hold the Dream (1986) (TV) ... Blackie O'Neill
Lamb (1986) ... Brother Sebastian
Mission, The (1986) ... Fielding
Duet for One (1986) ... Totter
Prayer for the Dying, A (1987) ... Docherty
Suspect (1987) ... Carl Wayne Anderson
Sweet as You Are (1987) (TV) ... Martin Perry
Sworn to Silence (1987) (TV) ... Vincent Cauley
Dead Pool, The (1988) ... Peter Swan
Good Mother, The (1988) ... Leo Cutter
High Spirits (1988) ... Martin Brogan
Satisfaction (1988) ... Martin Falcon
Next of Kin (1989) ... Briar
Big Man, The (1990) ... Danny Scoular
Darkman (1990) ... Peyton Westlake/Darkman
Husbands and Wives (1992) ... Michael
Leap of Faith (1992) ... Will
Shining Through (1992) ... Franz-Otto Dietrich
Under Suspicion (1992) ... Tony Aaron
Ethan Frome (1993) ... Ethan Frome
Ruby Cairo (1993) ... Fergus Lamb
Schindler's List (1993) ... Oskar Schindler
Nell (1994) ... Jerome Lovell
Out of Ireland (1994)
Lumiere et compagnie (1995)
Rob Roy (1995) ... Rob Roy
"Great War, The" (1996) ... John Lucy
Before and After (1996) ... Ben Ryan
Leap of Faith, A (1996) ... Narrator
Michael Collins (1996) ... Michael Collins
Ambrose Chapel (1999)
Miserables, Les (1998) ... Valjean
Everest (1998) ... Narrator
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) ... Qui-Gon
Jinn
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (1997) ... Narrator
Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome (1996)
Gun Shy (1999)
Haunting, The (1999) ... Dr. Jeffrey Marrow