Liam Neeson.Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty
Liam Neesonis welcoming fans back to the movies.
“It will be nice to welcome people,” the actor, 68, toldThe Hollywood Reporterthis week. “I think going to the cinema is a bit of a sacred experience. I’ve felt that way since I was a kid.”
Neeson (who has received his firstdose of the coronavirus vaccine) added of his Friday appearance, “This is one for the diary.”
Open Road/Briarcliff (The Marksman’s U.S. distributor) CEO Tom Ortenberg also toldthe outlet, “The reopening of New York is a strong symbolic gestureto the theater-going audiencethat it is okay to put your toe in the water.”
According toTHR,AMC Theatresis re-opening all 13 of its locations in the Big Apple on Friday, as are the Angelica and IFC Center.Regal Cinemas, meanwhile, is looking to open its doors in the city again next month.
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Liam Neeson inThe Marksman.Courtesy of Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment
Liam Neeson inThe Marksman.Ryan Sweeney / Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment
As some movie theaters slowly begin to reopen with social-distancing and other safety guidelines in place, many — as well as a variety ofother centers dedicated to the arts— continue to struggle amid the pandemic.
“I cannot stress enough how essential that money is — every penny —in securing the well-being of our artistic communityand sustaining the lives of nearly 8,000 people in every branch of the arts in Northern Ireland,” he told the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, according to theBBC.
“It is vital; it’s a lifeline,” Neeson added. “It is vital for our economy; it is vital for our young people who are pursuing a career in our creative industries.”
RELATED VIDEO: Liam Neeson’s Sons Support Him Being Action Hero at Almost 70: “I Haven’t Caught Them Laughing”
Neeson has been acting since the mid-1970s and has performed in a number of critically acclaimed roles, many in action films. In 2008, he started down an unexpected path to become a middle-aged action hero when he starred inTakenas a former government operative who must rescue his daughter after she’s kidnapped in Paris.
The actor’s latest film,The Marksman,is in select theaters on Friday. In the film, he plays a former-Marine-turned-rancher who must leave his life of solitude to protect an 11-year-old boy from drug-cartel assassins.
In a January interview withEntertainment Tonight, Neeson said that, after this year, he plans to stop filming action flicks.
“I’m 68 and a half — 69 this year,” he toldET. “There’s a couple more I’m going to do this year — hopefully, COVID allowing us — there’s a couple in the pipeline and,then I think that will probably be it. Well, unless I’m on a Zimmer frame or something.”
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source: people.com
