The actor had been photographed looking extremely gaunt in recent months.
After months of speculation, Liam Neeson has finally revealed the reason behind his dramatic weight-loss and it was all due to Martin Scorsese. The actor stars in Scorsese’s new drama Silence, in which the director required him ‘to look a bit more gaunt’, causing Neeson to shed 20 pounds.
Liam Neeson lost 20 pounds for his upcoming role in Silence.
Speaking at the Los Cabos Film Festival in Mexico on Sunday Neeson revealed that he and co-star Adam Driver were asked to drop weight by the Oscar winning director. "Martin wanted us all to look a bit more gaunt, [which costars Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield] did as well,” Neeson said (as reported by Collider).
"I know Adam went to the extreme. He's an ex marine and when he's given an order, he follows it through. He was like something out of Auschwitz. Martin requires this level of [dedication] and I think it pays off."
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In Silence Neeson and Garfield star as 17th century Jesuit priests who face violent persecution when they travel to Japan to seek out their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity. During the filming, production ended up being delayed after a 6.1 earthquake hit Japan, which Neeson described as the "most terrifying moment of my life."
"I was in my hotel room, on the 15th floor and the room, the world, started to shake," he said. "I thought I'll just stand under the door way, that's what you do. I was under there for 10 seconds. I thought this is crazy – I'm 15-floors up, you don't stand in the doorway."
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Speaking about working with legendary director Scorsese, Neeson said the experience was ‘intimidating’. "He's legendary – so as a performer you have to get over that. I had to get over that,” the 63-year-old revealed.
“He require[s] absolute silence on set, like everybody has to stop work when he's giving a direction or explaining a scene. I mean everybody – the guy that’s painting 400 yards away has to stop. If he hears one tiny sound it's shattered for him so he commands that respect. He commands that silence and especially for this film it was necessary."
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