Liam Neeson announces retirement from action films

Liam Neeson is setting aside his “very particular set of skills” and retiring from action movies, because he reckons he’s too old to be a kick-ass hero.

The 65-year-old actor began his action career relatively late on with Taken in 2008, but has been prolific in the genre since then, starring in two sequels in the franchise, as well as Unknown, The Grey, Run All Night and Non-Stop, to name a few.

"The thrillers, that was all a pure accident," said Neeson at the Toronto International Film Festival. "They're still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff. I'm like, 'Guy's I'm sixty-f**king-five.' Audiences are eventually going to go, 'Come on.'"

Neeson has already shot two upcoming revenge thrillers – Hard Powder, in which he plays a snowplow driver who faces off with drug dealers, and The Commuter – but he says they will be his last.

"I've shot one that's going to come out in January sometime. There might be another. That's it," said Neeson. "But not Taken, none of that franchise stuff."

The Irish actor will focus on dramatic work instead, with several projects already in the pipeline. His next film is a Watergate drama called Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House, and he will also star in Widows, the forthcoming Steve McQueen movie.