Shhh…do you hear that sound? It’s the faint whisper of Liam Neeson‘s Oscar chances for next year slowly gaining steam. The first look at Neeson in Martin Scorsese‘s upcoming film Silence is here and shows the Taken actor significantly skinnier and very in character as a 17th-century priest. The actor admitted he lost more than twenty pounds for the role and even though this is only the first image audiences have seen from the film it is already clear that even amidst a stacked cast (the movie also boasts Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, and Ciaran Hinds) Neeson will stand out in a big way.
Although Silence has a few things in common with Taken, arguably Neeson’s most popular movie to date, it is a much more introspective and dramatic role for the Irish leading man. Yes, his priest character travels abroad with a specific goal in mind but instead of a “special set of skills” and a weapons cache, he travels only with his religious beliefs and a mission to spread Christianity throughout the world. The film is due out in 2016 and from the looks of this first picture Scorsese has once again given his Gangs of New York collaborator a role to sink his teeth into. Only time will tell if it pays off in the form of awards recognition, but until then anticipation can officially build for this project’s release date.
(via The Playlist)
