Liam Neeson was embarrassed by how many people he kills in Taken

Is there anything more cringeworthy than taking out a whole bunch of bad guys after they’ve kidnapped your daughter? That’s not exactly the type of thought most people have on a daily basis. But for Liam Neeson, who stars in the action-packed Taken series, the idea of “kill counts” becomes a lot more significant. In fact, he’s even admitted to feeling a bit embarrassed about the number of foes his character takes down in the 2008 thriller.

Taken was a massive hit at the box office and has since become one of the standout action films of the 21st century. It completely changed the course of Neeson’s career, transforming him from a serious dramatic actor into a full-fledged action hero. Even at 69 years old, Neeson is still going strong in the action genre, with his latest film, Memory, set to release at the end of April.

In an interview with ScreenRant, Neeson reminisced about shooting the original Taken movie in 2007 and recalled a moment that made him ponder the body count of his character. “I had a driver during the filming, and after the first week in LA, he dropped me off at my hotel and said, ‘I’ve started reading the script for Taken; I’ve made it to page 40, and it says you’ve taken the lives of 26 people.’ I didn’t know how to respond,” Neeson reflected.

He admitted feeling quite embarrassed, noting that his driver seemed to imply, “Are you sure you’ve read this script? Because you do some pretty nasty stuff to people.”

While it’s true that Neeson’s character, Bryan Mills, dishes out some serious pain to the criminals he encounters, that’s all part of the thrill of a movie like this.

So, really, there’s no need to feel embarrassed, Liam. You did what you had to do to save your daughter—and remember, it’s all fictional! It doesn’t make you a bad person in real life.