The Importance of Being an Actor

From humble beginnings in Ireland,where he is originally from,to operating fork lifts,teaching and driving trucks in New York before he achieved phenomenal success as an actor,Neeson has seen it all. “In the process,I discovered that life is a journey,a pilgrimage and a sacred adventure. From time to time I have

experienced crises but I have lived through the unpredictable moments,” says the 58-year-old actor.

Neeson’s brush with Hollywoodcame in 1987,when he made a conscious decision to move to Los Angeles. “I wanted to do high profile roles,and that year,I starred alongside Cher and Dennis Quaid in Suspect. The role brought me critical applause.” But it was much later,in the 1990s that his performance in Darkman brought him to the limelight.

After impressing the audiences as Ra’s Al Gul in Batman Begins,Neeson is once again set to gauge public attention with Clash of the Titans (COTT) which releases today. “I am playing Zeus,the wise and mighty king of the gods,originally portrayed by Laurence Olivier in Desmond Davis’s 1981 film. It’s a strong and authoritative character. More than any other god,he loves humans because he created them,and is torn between conflicting emotions because his love doesn’t let him strike them with all his might,” he explains.

More than the different film genres,it is a good script followed by an equally good director that interests Neeson. “It is important that you get excited after reading the script and you are ready to give your best shot as an actor. I chose COTT because I knew Louis Leterrier would be a great director and given the incredible computer wizards on the crew,I wanted to be a part of that experience,” he says.

While he prefers to stay quiet about his role as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s next,he strongly identifies with his role as Oskar Schindler in the director’s 1993 war film. “I do believe in the philosophy of being humane and loving people around you and respecting everyone. A person should be humble as life can be both good and bad but if you are a nice human being you will be able to face all the circumstances,no matter how difficult things get,” says the man who is not very happy with the original Schindler’s List going up for sale. “I think one should preserve historical items as they are keepers of our memories. They are our assets which tell us about our history. It should not be in the hands of wrong people who can ruin our precious historic memories,” he quips.

His other abiding passion,theatre,he says,is also important to him,even if he gets lesser time to indulge in it. “While theatre focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self-contained drama,films are a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method of educating,or indoctrinating audiences. They both give me a massive high,” he signs off.