No one could’ve anticipated that the esteemed thespian who played Oskar Schindler and Michael Collins would end up starring in a string of B-thrillers and pioneering something called “geriaction.” It’s like picturing Daniel Day-Lewis starring in a Fast & Furious reboot in 2030; it was unfathomable. But when Neeson did take up arms and run through the streets of Paris in search of his kidnapped daughter, audiences were riveted.
The trajectory of Neeson’s entire career changed as a result of Taken. It takes a special kind of movie to change the image of an internationally recognized star. Here are 10 behind-the-scenes details about the making of Taken.
Jeff Bridges Was Originally Cast To Play Bryan Mills
When Taken was in pre-production, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges was attached to play the lead role of Bryan Mills. However, he dropped out before shooting began and was replaced by Liam Neeson, who happened to be looking for a more physically challenging role.
After the movie came out and Bridges saw it with Neeson in the role, he felt that the Irish star was a much better fit for the project than he was.
Maggie Grace Was 25 When She Played 17-Year-Old Kim
Actors playing teenagers in movies and TV shows are rarely teenagers themselves. Maggie Grace was 25 years old when she played the role of Kim, who’s supposed to be 17 in this movie.
Grace also trained with world-famous running coach Alberto Salazar to be able to run really fast for a lot of takes while still looking convincingly like a kid. This training was more helpful for the sequels, in which she was shoehorned into the action sequences, than the first one.
Luc Besson Pitched The Idea To Director Pierre Morel Over Dinner
Producer Luc Besson came up with the idea for a thriller in which a father travels to Europe to find his kidnapped daughter and brought it up to the film’s eventual director, Pierre Morel, over dinner.
Morel had worked as a cinematographer on a few of Besson’s directorial efforts, and Besson had worked on Morel’s first feature as a director, District 13. Morel was immediately drawn to the idea of a parent driven to protect his child, and signed up for the project there and then.
The Bridge That Bryan Jumps Off Of Is A Parisian Hotspot
At one point during the climactic chase sequence in Taken, Bryan Mills jumps off of a bridge and onto the boat where his daughter is being kept. This is the “Pont des Arts,” a tourist hotspot in Paris.
It’s shown to be empty in the movie, but it’s usually teeming with people who are hanging out, drinking wine, and playing the guitar. It’s a pedestrian-only bridge, so in real life, Bryan couldn’t drive up to it like he does in the movie.
Liam Neeson Did A Lot Of His Own Stunts
Despite his advancing age, Liam Neeson performed a lot of his own stunts for this movie. This is evident from the fact that any running scene has a cut every couple of frames, and is shot from many different angles.
Neeson has said that after this movie came out, a lot of viewers got the impression that Europe is riddled with human traffickers. American parents have come up to him and thanked him for making the movie and warning them about the risk, as they haven’t let their kids go to Europe since seeing it. Neeson said he always takes the time to explain that the movie exaggerated the threat of trafficking in Europe and encourages them to let their kids travel.
Taken Has Some Wildly Different Titles In Foreign Markets
In some foreign film markets, it can be hard to find Taken on IMDb, because the film has some wildly different titles in other countries.
In Germany, it’s named 96 Hours, in reference to the timeframe Bryan Mills gives himself to find his daughter. In Russia, it’s called The Hostage, for obvious reasons. In Italy, it’s known as Io Vi Troverò, which translates as I Will Find You.
An Ex-SAS Soldier Trained Liam Neeson To Play Bryan Mills
In order to convincingly play ex-CIA badass Bryan Mills, Liam Neeson trained with a former Special Air Service soldier Mick Gould.
Throughout pre-production, Gould taught Neeson the art of hand-to-hand combat, as well as the proper ways to hold certain firearms that Mills was going to use in the movie.
Very Few Of The Actors Share The Same Nationality As Their Character
Liam Neeson and Famke Janssen both play American characters, but in real life, Neeson is Irish and Janssen is Dutch.
The sequels didn’t actually feature any Albanian actors playing Albanian characters, because the original movie was deemed so damaging to Albania’s image that every Albanian actor refused to dignify the franchise with their presence.
The Surprise Success Of The First Movie Earned Liam Neeson Huge Paychecks For The Sequels
Liam Neeson was paid a $1 million fee to do the first Taken film, which is relatively slim for a star of his stature, but not insignificant for a movie that he expected to go straight to DVD.
The surprise success of the first movie meant that Neeson could have much larger paychecks for the sequels. For Taken 2, he was reportedly paid $10 million, and for Taken 3 (or TAK3N, as it was strangely marketed), he was reportedly paid $20 million.
Liam Neeson Expected The Movie To Bomb
When he first signed on to star in Taken, Liam Neeson expected the film to either bomb at the box office or receive a direct-to-DVD release. The actor only took the role of Bryan Mills because it gave him the opportunity to learn karate, spend four months in beautiful Paris, and play a kind of character he didn’t normally get to play.
The irony is that the movie ended up being so successful at the box office that it changed Neeson’s entire on-screen persona and gave him a career comeback as an action hero.