In the Warner Bros. action thriller “Run All Night,” opening this Friday March 13, Liam Neeson continues to uphold the mantle as the ultimate action star for a new generation. The fast moving film maintains a thrill-a-minute pace and never let’s up. Amidst it all, the story examines deep emotional relationships between family and  friends that are constantly tested; and the powerful bond between father and son. Under the helm of Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra, the powerful cast also includes Ed Harris, Common, Joel Kinnaman, Vincent D’Onofrio and the beautiful Genesis Rodriguez. In an exclusive interview Neeson opens up about the film, his solid career in the action genre, and upcoming plans.

In “Run All Night’ Neeson plays Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon, who although once known as The Gravedigger is now only a shadow of his former self. He is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective who’s been one step behind for 30 years.  Lately, his only solace can be found at the bottom of a whiskey glass.

But when Jimmy’s estranged son, Mike (Kinnaman), becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago.  Mob boss Shawn Maguire (Harris) is the longtime best friend of Jimmy who will test his relationship. With Mike on the run, Jimmy’s only penance for his past mistakes may be to keep his son alive. Having nowhere safe to turn, he has only one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.

Neeson has completely transformed his career to become one of our most successful modern day action stars.
He first became a huge star playing the title role in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Oscar winning “Schindler’s List.” Since then his list of credits include the title role in the historical biopic “Michael Collins,” the epic “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” “Kinsey,” “Batman Begins,” “Clash of the Titans,”  “The Chronicles of Narnia” series, “The Grey,” “Unknown” and “Non-stop.” But it was the first “Taken,” released in 2008 and going on to gross over 200 million dollars that first introduced him to the action genre and spun two sequels, so far.

HOMBRE: To what do you attribute the success of your current action films?
Liam Neeson: We know Hollywood makes films for demographics, 14 – 24 or something like that. Well there are 24 ’til the mid 80’s that sometimes are not accounted for. This is just my theory why “Taken,” or a couple of these actions films appeal to a more mature sophisticated audience.

H: “Run All Night” seems almost like mythical story.
LN: Being Irish, a lot of myths and legends come from Nordic tales. And it’s interesting to see these characters with axes rape and pillage with basic humanity. This is where our gods came from and myths and cultures. That’s where these stories come from. These sort of scripts don’t get made that often. “State of Grace” was the last I can think of.

H: Why is there such a need for revenge in this film?
LN: It’s a code of honor these guys have. All these kind of societies, the mafia; the shoguns of Japan have them. They’re very tribal. You kill one of mine, I kill two of yours.  If you don’t do it you’re disrespecting your enemy, or your best friend.

H: What was most challenging or fun part of making the film?
LN: I think the hardest thing to do in film is to play a drunk. There’s a great Irish actor named Cyril Cusack, he was phenomenal in such a subtle way. So if I have to play a drunk guy I actually try to just copy Cyril Cusack. You can so overplay that kind of stuff.

H: Do you have any input on the script?
LN: I’m not a writer. Brad Ingelsby‘s script was terrific. I totally trusted (director) Jaume  and the vision he would have for it.

H: Like you mentioned, your character was a drunk early in the film, but became a killing machine; how was he able to transform?
LN: I like to assume he was a sniper. It’s a muscle that my character hasn’t exercised for a long time but when he has to, it’s there. It’s like falling off a bicycle, you just get back on. You know where your balance is, you don’t have to relearn it.

H: After “Unknown” and “Non-Stop,” this is your third film with director Jaume; what makes you work so well together?
LN: We get along, I think we like each other. There’s no big pulling out of hair, glasses being smashed against the wall… (laughs).
It’s like, ‘What you think about this?” “OK, let’s try that.” We keep it very simple

H: In this, as in other recent films, you play a very protective father, where do you draw your inspiration?
LN: You don’t act that, you just have it. Once you see your child being born your life is changed forever. You carry that like a smell with you. In your work, in your acting. When you’re crossing the road, when you’re eating at a restaurant. Everything is informed by the fact you’re a dad.
I remember Gabriel Byrne telling me when his son was born, “I realized my place in the universe.” He just nailed it. I felt the exact same way when my son was born. Everything aligned in some way.

H: How do you handle doing the stunts on this film?
LN: I keep fit. I think when you do films you have to have stamina. It doesn’t mean you have to be gym fit to that extent, but you have to look after yourself.

H: How do you maintain the adrenaline in such a fast paced film?
LN: A lot of it comes from  experience. There’s an old Irish actor Colin Blakely, he was a hero of mine. I had the pleasure to work with him and he said, “Everybody talks about being relaxed, you don’t want to be relaxed. That’s one step before falling asleep.” He said, “You want to be poised.” He was quite right. Just being poised when they’re setting up the lights and you know you have a scene in half an hour, just keep poised.

H: What’s your next project?
LN: I most recently came into this whole action genre. I’m about to go off and play a Jesuit in a Martin Scorsese film. It’s about the Jesuit Christian persecution in Japan in the Seventeenth century. They already started. I join in April.