STACK #211 May 2022

MOVIE FEATURE

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friend and he has a big heart. He’s not just the tough guy, and I wanted to show the poetic, alternate side of Travis Block, and that side of Liam as well. Block is trying to be a better man, the guy he wishes he would have been when he was younger,” he adds. As Block, Neeson delivers his lines in that unmistakable gruff trans-Atlantic Irish accent, and we can’t help but ask Williams whether the accent is entirely plausible for an ex-US military operative. “He’s doing the Liam Neeson accent,” he laughs. “We actually had a conversation about it on The Honest Thief and he says audiences expect this accent from him.” A recognisable face from more than

TAKEN Neeson plays a retired CIA operative, who must use his “special set

of skills” to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

COLD PURSUIT Neeson plays a snowplough driver, who

Director MarkWilliams chats to STACK about helming the new Liam Neeson action-thriller, Blacklight , during lockdown conditions Down Under. Words Gill Pringle L iam Neeson was more than happy to quarantine for

turns vigilante after his son is murdered by a drug cartel. THE ICE ROAD Neeson plays an ice road trucker, who is recruited

legendary Aussie stuntman, Guy Norris ( Mad Max: Fury Road ). “ Blacklight is a great ride, rooted in the ideas of family, loyalty, truth, and the idea of betrayal,” says Neeson. “It has some wonderful action sequences that come out of what’s been happening between the characters. The action is never gratuitous and it’s driven by the story, which is very gripping.” Having previously worked with Neeson on The Honest Thief , Williams knew the actor wouldn’t be interested in reprising something close to

two weeks in Australia, ready to shoot action- thriller Blacklight , one of the first films to go into production after the start of the pandemic. If it’s hard to imagine the veteran tough guy actor staying in one of the infamous quarantine hotels, then Blacklight ’s producer/co-writer/director Mark Williams unwittingly served as Neeson’s “guinea pig”. “I quarantined first in a small hotel room, after which we figured out how

to assist in the rescue of a group of trapped miners.

a hundred movies, naturally it was impossible for Neeson to get around Victoria unnoticed. “Liam can go out but he’s always recognised, so I think it makes him feel a little uncomfortable at times when he’s just trying to have a meal. It definitely limits his time out. But he did go off and pet the koalas and do all that fun stuff,” says Williams.

Director MarkWilliams on set with Liam Neeson. Photo credit Ben King

Liam wouldn’t have to stay in a crap place,” he tells STACK . “So he had a nice apartment, where he spent a lot of time reading. I think he actually enjoyed it a little bit, on his own, doing his own thing. When he got out, he was smiling, so I’m happy it worked out that way.” In fact, quarantine proved a boom for Blacklight ’s production. “All the actors used that time wisely and certainly they all came in knowing their lines. I think Liam was doing some of the fight- training over Zoom, so it wasn’t

his role in the Taken trilogy. “Liam often talks about Taken on set. He knows those movies very well and doesn’t want to repeat himself, so I wanted this to be different and to really push the envelope for him. “I was going for a broken character who wasn’t the same guy from Taken . He has his own issues and his own guilt from the past and I wanted a way to show it.” In Blacklight , Neeson plays Travis Block, a

freelance government “fixer” working for his old Vietnam buddy, who is now director of the FBI. Plagued with OCD issues, Block questions the morality of his work and hopes to retire and get out of this dubious line of business,

completed wasted, that’s for sure,” says Williams, co-creator of award- winning drama Ozark ,who partnered with Melbourne producer Paul Currie for Blacklight . Shot during the first year of pandemic lockdowns in Melbourne and Canberra (doubling for Washington, D.C.), Williams and his team worked to make several exciting car chase scenes –

but of course it’s not that easy… “Liam loved the OCD stuff and wanted to do more. I just felt it gave a layer to the character, which was a little more interesting and human,” explains Williams. “I’m lucky to call Liam a good

• Blacklight is out on May 18

involving a garbage truck and a Porsche – utilising the skills of

14 MAY 2022

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