Aired tonight on France 3, the snowy thriller Cold Blood once again proves that Liam Neeson is trigger-happy. But, questioned during the promotion of the film in 2019, the British actor had unfortunate remarks that almost cost him dearly …
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Since the success of Taken in 2009, Liam Neeson investigates muscular detective stories and nervous thrillers, eternally recycling his character of avenging vigilante. If his last efforts as The Good Criminal turned out to be rather disappointing, from time to time one of his films stands out. This is the case with Cold blood, a snowy thriller signed by the Norwegian Hans Petter Moland, who had notably directed The investigations of Department V: Deliverance. Liam Neeson plays Nels, a snow plow driver at a luxury Colorado ski resort. His son, Kyle, is kidnapped with Dante, a friend of his, by criminals. As Dante manages to escape, the mobsters inject Kyle with a lethal dose of heroin before leaving his body on a sidewalk cafe. When he comes to identify his son in the morgue, Nels refuses to believe the official version of death by overdose. He will then go in search of the assassins who killed his son.
An effective thriller that turns into a game of massacre
Used to playing tough, the actor of Schindler’s List Once again grits his teeth in this effective suspense with delightful black humor, which turns into a game of massacre. What cause good chills, literally and figuratively. However, it is the career of Liam Neeson which could have taken a hell of a cold, during the promotion of the film. Asked in February 2019 by the online daily The Independent about his character, the 68-year-old actor reveals a personal story he lived in the early 80s: after learning that a woman close to his entourage had been raped, Liam Neeson had been crossed by the desire to kill the attacker. It was then that his reported words created controversy: “I asked, ‘does she know who did this?’ No. ‘What color were they?’ She said it was a black person. I’m ashamed to say it, I walked the streets with a baton, hoping to be approached by someone. I did this for maybe a week, hoping a ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and mess with me. That way, I could have … killed him. “
Liam Neeson accused of racism
Even if, in the same interview, the British actor explains that he bitterly regrets his dark thoughts of the time, the damage is done. Indignant reactions to his words flourish on social networks, accusations of racism fall. The red carpet that was to welcome the team of Cold blood is canceled, the film makes a disastrous start at the American box office, the worst for the actor since 2010. It will collect only 28 million dollars on the other side of the Atlantic, far from the 140 million dollars. Taken 2, for example. Faced with the controversy, Liam Neeson chooses first to remain silent. Some of his colleagues like actress Michelle Rodriguez are publicly defending him. Among them the actress Whoopi Goldberg: “Sometimes people walk around in rage. That’s what happened. Is he filled with hate? No. I’ve known him for a while, I think I would have realized that. surrounded by a lot of real haters. You can’t be surprised that someone whose loved one is being attacked is upset and wants to come out and attack. “
Liam Neeson comes out of his reserve
Finally, he, who experienced a personal tragedy with the sudden death of his wife Natasha Richardson in 2009, was released from his reserve on March 29, 2019 through a press release published by the site Variety : “The horror of what happened to my friend has triggered irrational thoughts that do not represent who I am. I am aware that I have offended a lot of people at a time when words are so often used as weapons. and an entire community of innocent people are being targeted in acts of rage. I was wrong to do what I did. I admit that, although my comments do not represent any way, neither my feelings. I apologize sincerely. “ Regrets that seem to have definitely buried this bad patch for the actor.
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