'America has too many f****** guns': Taken star Liam Neeson launches expletive laden tirade on gun control
From: Daily Mail.UK
- The 62-year-old is famous for playing gun-totting father Bryan Mills in Taken franchise
- He defended his on-screen role, saying movies were just 'fantasy'
- Neeson spoke out after being asked about the Paris terrorist attacks
- He said his 'thoughts and payers and heart' were with the Paris victims
- Was reportedly paid more than $20 million for Taken 3 - elevating him to the same pay-bracket as Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie
- Taken 3 shot to number one at the box office over the weekend with a gross of $39.1 million
- The ultra violent revenge franchise as raked in $630 million at global box office
Published:
04:28 EST, 14 January 2015
|
Updated:
18:28 EST, 14 January 2015
It has
become one of Hollywood's surprising second acts - how 62-year-old Liam
Neeson became one of Tinseltown's most bankable action heroes playing a
cold blooded killer with a particular set of skills.
But
now the Irish-born actor and star of the ultra-violent Taken trilogy
has thought it wise to wade into America's fraught gun debate.
Speaking
at a press conference in Dubai for the launch of Taken 3 on Tuesday,
Neeson offered an interviewer his opinion of his adopted home's attitude
to firearms.
'There's
just too many [expletive] guns out there,' said Neeson, who is reputed
to have been paid $20 million for the new latest Taken installment.
'Especially in America. I think the population is like, 320 million? There's over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America.
'I
think it's a [expletive] disgrace. Every week now we're picking up a
newspaper and seeing, 'Yet another few kids have been killed in
schools.'
When asked if the issue extends to police responsibility Neeson said 'let's not get into it'.
But
then added: 'Let's put it this way: I think a light has been shone on
the justice system in America, and it's a justifiable light.'
Neeson,
a supporter of gun control, is best known as gun-toting father, Bryan
Mills, who will stop at nothing to get his loved ones back.
But
he was quick to make the distinction between fiction and reality, and
said his movies wouldn't inspire people to buy and use guns. Growing up
watching cowboy movies had not turned him into a killer, he said.
'A
character like Bryan Mills going out with guns and taking revenge: it's
fantasy. It's in the movies, you know? I think it can give people a
great release from stresses in life and all the rest of it, you know
what I mean? It doesn't mean they're all going to go out and go, 'Yeah,
let's get a gun!'
The Irish-born actor became an American citizen five years ago and currently lives in New York City.
Before
speaking about gun ownership in America, Neeson reflected on Said and
Cherif Kouachi shooting spree last Wednesday that claimed a dozen lives.
He said: 'First off, my thoughts and prayers and my heart are with the deceased, and certainly with all of France.
'I've got a lot of dear friends in Paris.'
The wildly successful Taken trilogy has grossed almost $603 million to date in box office worldwide.
It has
turned Neeson from a respected character actor most famous for his
portrayal of Oscar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Oscar winning
Schindler's List into a fully fledged action hero.
The
star is reported to have been paid $20 million for his role as CIA
operative Bryan Mills, joining the ranks of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom
Hanks as Hollywood's best paid stars.
However, some of course are not happy with Neeson's foray into Second Amendment politics.
'The
rank hypocrisy of an actor who uses guns in his films and attacks gun
ownership at the same time is way over the top. I guess you don't need
brains to act,' said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment
Foundation to WND.
'All you have to do is read the script.'
{If you dislike America's constitutional freedoms so much pack up and go back to Ireland or wherever it is you came from. You sound like the socialist leftist progressives that are trying their best to destroy America's constitutional freedoms.As for me I will never watch any movie with you in it and I will make it my Life mission to stop my family, friends and acquaintances to do the same! I have been "Taken" twice but I will not be "Taken" a third time!}
God bless,
JohnnyD
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